- Infantino had delivered his opening speech during the meeting in Paraguay
- The FIFA chief accompanied Trump during the trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia
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Angry FIFA members turned their back on President Gianni Infantino while they were spectacularly released during his speech at the organization’s congress, after being late after events after which he attended Donald Trump.
Infantino had joined Trump during the American president’s trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia this week, which he prioritized during the annual rally of FIFA members in Paraguay.
The Swiss, 55, took a private jet from Qatar to Asuncion but arrived at the meeting several hours behind, triggering a furious reaction from the delegates.
And Infantino has embarrassment of several officials who were walking to protest themselves, including eight members of the FIFA Council in power and the head of the FA, Debbie Hewitt.
The president of the Norway Football Federation Lise Klaveness criticized Infantino and said that his late arrival was “disappointing” and “concerning”.
“I understand the frustration and disappointment of European FIFA members, and we are sorry for the excellent hosts in Paraguay,” Klaveness said in a statement.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino accompanied Donald Trump during a visit to the Middle East
Infantino was then late for the annual FIFA meeting of its members in Paraguay
Several delegates left the meeting to protest against the late arrival of Infantin
“We are now expecting FIFA to explain this situation to its members and we ensure that the votes of member associations are heard and respected in the future.”
UEFA was also unhappy, exploding the late change to the congress calendar for “which simply seems to be to welcome private political interests”.
Infantino, who had delayed the three-hour congress, apologized to FIFA members but defended his trip to the Middle East with Trump.
“Let me start by apologizing for the embarrassment caused to move the time to kick off the congress,” he told delegates.
“ To have arrived later than what I would have liked … As president of FIFA, I decided to be in the last two days in the Middle East, knowing that the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia, the 2022 World Cup was in Qatar and that the 2025 World Cup in the United States and the FIFA World Cup will be in the United States, in Canada and Mexico.
“Obviously, certain important discussions took place there with regard to the World Cup with certain world leaders in politics and economics and I felt like I was to be there to represent you all, to represent football.
“I thought I could arrive on time, but unfortunately, we had a little problem with our flight, which caused this delay.”
Trump had met the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Emir Qatari Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani during the trip to the Middle East, Infantino joining the meetings.
Infantino was regularly represented with Trump before the United States, Canada and Mexico welcoming the 2026 World Cup.
The American president described Infantino as “my good friend for a long time”, while the head of the FIFA defended his relationship with Trump in February, insisting that he was “crucial for the success of a World Cup”.
Infantino appeared at the White House just over a week ago at the first public meeting of the World Cup working group in 2026 of the Trump administration.
