Former White House World Cup task force director defends Infantino

Andrew Giuliani, former executive director of the White House Task Force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defended FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Friday amid growing criticism over the world football governing body’s shelved private investment plan.

Giuliani told The Athletic that opposition to Infantino was driven partly by jealousy of his achievements.

“People are jealous when people are very high achievers. And what Gianni Infantino has done for FIFA is he’s taken them to a whole new level that probably they didn’t think was possible,” he said.

Giuliani described any attempt to remove Infantino as “foolish,” while praising his management of the 2026 World Cup.

“What I’ll tell you is that for any soccer confederation or football federation president who is thinking about not voting for Gianni Infantino, it would probably be one of the most foolish decisions of your professional life,” he said.

“This guy literally just put on the largest global sporting event ever without any incident, making over four times the revenue of the last World Cup, and you’re thinking of ousting him.”

Giuliani argued that Infantino’s record should earn him unanimous support in the next FIFA presidential election.

“If Gianni Infantino doesn’t get re-elected unanimously, then whoever voted against him needs to get their head examined.”

Infantino has faced criticism over the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which involved creating a commercial subsidiary to oversee FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, and selling a 20% stake to private investors.

FIFA withdrew the proposal and Infantino apologized for how the process had been handled, but criticism continued.

UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) subsequently issued a joint letter criticizing Infantino’s handling of the proposal and calling for an independent review.

Ireland, England and New Zealand have withdrawn their support for Infantino’s reelection, while the English and Norwegian football associations have called for him to resign.

US President Donald Trump also expressed support for Infantino in a social media post on Monday.

“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump said.

“He is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again,” he added.