Andrew Giuliani, former executive director of the White House Task Force on the 2026 World Cup, publicly supported FIFA President Gianni Infantino on August 14 amid ongoing criticism and calls for his removal [1]. Giuliani described the backlash against Infantino's leadership as driven by politics and jealousy, calling attempts to remove him "foolish" [2, 1].
Infantino faced widespread criticism after proposing to sell about 20% of the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a commercial entity related to FIFA, to private investors [2, 1]. Due to backlash from multiple football federations and confederations, he abandoned the plan in late July 2026 [2, 1]. Giuliani highlighted that despite the controversy, Infantino successfully managed the 2026 World Cup, which generated over four times the revenue of the previous tournament, calling it "the largest global sporting event ever without any incident" [3, 1].
Giuliani said, "If Gianni Infantino doesn’t get re-elected unanimously, then whoever voted against him needs to get their head examined" and warned that voting against Infantino would be "one of the most foolish decisions of your professional life" [3, 1]. He added that efforts to criticize Infantino mirror previous political attacks on figures like Donald Trump, whom Giuliani also noted publicly supports Infantino [2, 3, 1].
Support for Infantino’s leadership has fractured within world football. UEFA, CONCACAF, AFC, and the football federations of England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, and New Zealand have withdrawn support or criticized Infantino [2, 3, 1]. However, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the South American CONMEBOL have endorsed him for a fourth presidential term [3].
The controversy remains a significant challenge for Infantino as he seeks re-election. Giuliani’s defense comes as influential figures weigh their positions less than three months after the proposed private stake sale was dropped at the end of July 2026 [2, 1].
