Infantino's Trump ties risk becoming a liability as FIFA reelection looms

Full text

Gianni Infantino’s political future may be on the U.S. midterm ballot.

For years, FIFA’s president has nurtured one of the closest relationships between any world leader and President Donald Trump, links that helped turn this summer’s World Cup into a logistical and financial success for soccer’s governing body.

But if control of Congress flips this fall, those same ties could become a political liability for Infantino as he seeks reelection atop the Swiss-based nonprofit he has led for a decade.

The House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat has said he intends to use his party’s majority to probe FIFA’s political machinations in Washington and ticket-pricing policies that critics have called opaque and exploitative.In a letter this week, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, requested information including a list of gifts provided to Trump, communications concerning Justice Department matters, and visitor logs for FIFA’s Miami headquarters and Trump Tower office.

Raskin and his fellow Democrats would gain the power to demand those records — and potentially compel Infantino’s testimony — if they win a House majority. FIFA is likely to be just one of many such targets for Democrats probing Trump allies who built up their political careers and business fortunes during his terms in office.

In Infantino’s case, the timing of the Nov. 3 election is especially inopportune. It comes two weeks before potential challengers to Infantino would have to declare their candidacies in a presidential election decided next March by a vote of FIFA’s 211 member countries.

“The perfect-storm scenario in FIFA world,” said one person involved at the highest levels of global soccer, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal politics. “I think they will find a candidate to run against him, especially if midterms flip control and if things were to start pouring out. But a lot needs to happen in the next four to five months.”

Internal opponents critical of Infantino’s efforts to ingratiate himself to political leaders, especially in the United States and Middle East, were given new reason for concern on Tuesday. The Times of London reported that Infantino is pursuing a plan to sell stakes in FIFA’s World Cup competitions, with an investment fund led by Joshua Kushner, the brother-in-law of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, intent on recruiting sovereign wealth funds to contribute.

“FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!” Raskin said in a statement to POLITICO. “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”FIFA and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Infantino first encountered Trump nearly a decade ago, as the newly elected president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner threw the White House’s support behind a joint bid by the U.S., Mexico and Canada to host the World Cup. Afterwards, Infantino began appearing regularly at Trump’s side as FIFA rented office space in Trump Tower and awarded FIFA’s inaugural “peace prize” to Trump.