Is Trump support toxic? Infantino loses trust within FIFA
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is facing a significant loss of support behind the scenes at the organization.
Details: According to Romain Molina, the reason lies in his aggressive lobbying for Donald Trump's interests and unwavering support for White House policies. Many national federations are baffled: despite Infantino's overt loyalty to the US president, he failed to secure full tax exemptions for participants in the upcoming 2026 World Cup.
At this point, only 18 federations have received partial exemptions through bilateral agreements, while the rest of the teams will be taxed in full in the United States.
Internal tensions at the Zurich headquarters have reached such a level that even FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström has expressed skepticism about his boss's strategy. Grafström reportedly tried to defuse the situation and calm disgruntled officials who believe Infantino is dragging football too deeply into political games.
Reminder: FIFA rejected Iran's request to move matches out of the United States.
