FIFA boss accused of ‘blackmail’ amid panicked calls to Trump

Gianni Infantino’s attempt to seek the support of US President Donald Trump has reportedly failed, as the FIFA boss prepares to host a crisis meeting in Morocco.

Pressure has been mounting on Infantino since he announced he was abandoning his plan to sell a stake of the commercial rights of all major FIFA run competitions.

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A number of member associations have spoken out against Infantino and withdrawn support for him as FIFA president. He is under siege and reportedly feeling “isolated”.

The New York Post revealed that in an attempt to save his job, Infantino has repeatedly tried to reach President Trump via a phone call for support. He has failed to get a response.

The pair had formed a close relationship since it was announced the United States would be hosting the Club World Cup and the World Cup.

Infantino and Trump have been seen at several major football events together. Trump even received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize from the FIFA president last year.

The Peace Prize raised concern within the football community and those fears have only grown after Trump’s ties to Infantino’s sell-off plan was revealed.

Infantino is set to run for election in a bid to retain his job as FIFA president in March next year, in what will be his final term if he is re-elected.

But to add to the list of dilemmas Infantino is now facing, FIFA has also been accused of blackmailing Jordan’s national team by withholding their prize money won during the FIFA Arab Cup that was played last December.

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Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, who served on FIFA’s executive committee from 2011-15, made the claim on X.

Prince Ali noted that FIFA has continued to “brag about how many billions they have in reserve” while his team waits for that payment.

He also criticised the difficulty Jordan’s fans faced securing visas to watch their team debut at this year’s World Cup despite paying the “exorbitant ticket prices” and how the team was taxed by the US government via FIFA for competing in the event.

Due to those issues and Infantino’s failed sell-off plan, Prince Ali said he could not endorse Infantino as a leader any further.

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“For months, FIFA has been refusing to help us on any of these or other matters until it was verbally communicated to me during the World Cup that if I endorsed Infantino it would go a long way to helping our FA out,” he wrote on X.

“It is clear the problem really is with leadership ... the whole situation amounts to blackmail, and we refuse to give in to that.”

The Athletic is also reporting that host cities from the FIFA Club World Cup last year are still waiting for their $1.4 million AUD payments promised by Infantino.

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A request has been lodged by some host cities for an update on those payments.

It has been reported that FIFA generated a record-breaking $21b in revenue at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

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