FIFA President Gianni Infantino wants the Trump administration to help keep him in office and has scheduled private talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio amid growing pressure to resign over his bid to sell off the World Cup to Josh Kushner’s private equity firm, The Post has learned.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed Infantino will hold a call with America’s top diplomat just after 9 a.m. ET.
“He wanted to get online with the secretary and talk about how soccer can be a form of soft power for America,” said one insider briefed on the matter. “But we all know that it is about job protection. It is not about anything else at this point.”
The Post has sought comment from FIFA and the State Department.
This newspaper has also learned that Infantino, 56, has repeatedly tried and failed to reach Trump, 80, by phone since his plan to sell off the game’s commercial assets to private investors collapsed on Friday.
The Post broke the news that Infantino’s attempt to spin off broadcasting, sponsorship, licensing and ticketing rights was dead after near-universal uproar from soccer federations worldwide.
It has also sparked an open revolt against his leadership at the Swiss nonprofit, with one FIFA executive telling The Post that officials want to push him out of the top job under what has been dubbed internally as Project “Kill The Monster”.
Kevin Lamour, the chief operating officer of the Zurich-based organization, told the Associated Press on Friday that he felt “deceived” by Infantino’s actions, saying he was unaware of the secret talks.
The aborted plan would have seen the creation of a new subsidiary dubbed FIFA Forward Enterprise created to manage the new business.
Thrive Capital, a private equity firm run by Josh Kushner, the younger brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared, would have taken a 20% stake in the venture for just over $4 billion.
The plan, first reported by The Times of London, angered soccer bosses across the world, who claimed they had only learned about it from media reports.
UEFA, the governing body of the sport in Europe, voted 55-0 to boycott the next World Cup — set to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco in 2030
It raised the prospect of two host countries skipping their own tournament, while starving the event of top stars such as Real Madrid’s French forward Kylian Mbappe and Spain’s Barcelona wunderkind Lamine Yamal.