January 21 – Who says sport and politics don’t mix? Among the scores of dignitaries attending Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony was FIFA boss Gianni Infantino who has admitted the pair share a “great friendship.”
Nothing perhaps wrong with that, however much it might make opponents of both leaders cringe.
Yet the sight of Infantino appearing to applaud parts of Trump’s highly provocative, headline-grabbing inauguration speech, not least when he talked about taking back the Panama Canal, certainly raised eyebrows.
Maybe we should not be surprised since Trump had previously namechecked Infantino and the 2026 World Cup at a rally ahead of his inauguration and the FIFA President, who these days lives in Miami with his family, responded by calling it “an incredible honour”.
“This is FIFA at the maximum of its respect; being mentioned by the new President of the United States of America in his victory rally, in his victory speech, is unique, is beautiful,” said Infantino.
The mutual back-slapping got even more cringeworthy when Infantino appeared to compare Trump’s “Make America Great Again” rhetoric to his own FIFA aspirations.
“I would like to thank President Trump, with whom I have a great friendship, and to assure him that, together, we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world, of course, because football – or soccer – unites the world,” said Infantino.
The current FIFA boss, who like Trump has a habit of getting what he wants (expanded Club World Cup next summer, Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup etc) certainly seems to have a liking for forging close relations with authoritarian (some might claim deranged) heads of state. Back in 2019, Vladimir Putin awarded him with the Order of Friendship medal after Russia staged the World Cup the previous year.
A FIFA spokesperson was quoted as saying: ‘The FIFA President accepted an invitation to attend the inauguration of the President of the United States on 20 January 2025. The FIFA President regularly accepts invitations to meet world leaders as FIFA develops and promotes the game globally.”
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