Donald Trump offers curt reply to query about Gianni Infantino’s FIFA World Cup selloff

Donald Trump was asked whether he’d spoken to Gianni Infantino about his plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup to a firm linked to his family

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Donald Trump has denied speaking to Gianni Infantino about his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to a firm linked to his family.

The US President was hit with the question after a televised Cabinet meeting at Camp David. Infantino’s secret proposal, revealed on Tuesday, would spin off its commercial operations in a new $20 billion subsidiary 20% owned by private investors, whose core investor would be a New York investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“No, I never spoke to him about it,” Trump insisted.

Trump has developed a close friendship with Infantino – and has spent a great deal of time with him in recent weeks, while the World Cup was taking place in North America. Infantino has been courting Trump since early in his second Presidency.

Within weeks of returning to the Oval Office, a replica of the World Cup was put on display – a gift from Infantino. Trump was later allowed to display a replica of the World Club Cup trophy in the Oval.

And most prominently, knowing Trump coveted a Nobel Peace Prize, something he is unlikely to be in contention for, Infantino invented the “FIFA Peace Prize” earlier this year, and awarded it to Trump. Trump and Infantino spent most of the day together during the World Cup Final in New Jersey, less than two weeks ago.

Days later, it was reported that Trump wants Infantino to be named the next UN Secretary General, something that is even less likely to happen than Trump’s peace prize ambitions. Last year, Infantino opened a new FIFA office inside Trump tower, deepening ties between the football body and the US President.

Senior FIFA adviser Carlos Cordeiro, who represented the soccer body on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, resigned Friday to protest its private equity plan.

“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker, said in a statement resigning as adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino that urged other senior FIFA staff to speak out.

Cordeiro often joined Infantino on working visits to meet Trump at the White House in recent years.

“Let me be clear. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally,” the former U.S. Soccer Federation president said, calling the $20 billion commercial subsidiary “a bad deal for football.”

“Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking, I understand both the value of this asset and the consequences of giving part of it away” he said. “That is why this proposal should be rejected.”