The US President said the FIFA chief – who presented him with a peace prize before the tournament – would be perfect for the role as he is ‘respected by everyone around the world’
Donald Trump wants his soccer buddy Gianni Infantino to run the United Nations. The US President said Infantino was ‘respected by everyone around the world’ and had a ‘special ability to bring people together’.
He wants the FIFA president to replace Antonio Guterres as the UN’s next secretary-general. Guterres will step down in December. Paolo Zampolli, the US president’s special envoy for global partnerships, said ‘only President Trump could have such a genius idea’ as proposing Infantino to lead the UN.
He said Infantino ‘would do a great job’, was ‘liked by everybody’ and would bring the same energy he has shown in football on an even bigger world stage.
Zampolli, himself a former UN ambassador to Dominica, said there was ‘some similarity’ between the roles of FIFA president and UN secretary-general.
“At the United Nations you have to deal with 193 member states,” he said. “In FIFA there are over 200 members. Gianni’s great record shows he knows how to manage.” Infantino, 56, became a close pal of Trump’s during the run-up to the World Cup which was partly hosted in the US.
The Swiss lawyer, a former general secretary of UEFA, went to great efforts to charm Trump – even handing him FIFA’s first Peace Prize in December after he missed out on the Nobel gong. Their relationship dates back to the US’s bid to stage the tournament which began eight years ago when Trump – then in his first term as president – hosted Infantino at the White House.
In 2020 he invited him back to Washington for the signing of the Abraham Accords. Infantino also attended Trump’s Board of Peace meeting at the beginning of this year where he pledged a new stadium, FIFA academy and various football fields to Gaza as part of a £5bn relief package.
Last December human-rights advocacy group Fair Square filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee accusing Infantino of repeated breaches of the governing body’s code regarding political neutrality – including his public support for Trump’s ‘actions and policies’.
During the World Cup draw Infantino gave Trump a golden trophy with his name on it and a medal to hang around his neck. Infantino drew widespread criticism during the tournament when FIFA overturned red card ban for US striker Folarin Balogun following Trump’s intervention.
That allowed Balogun to play in the last-16 tie against Belgium which the US lost 4-1. Belgian stars celebrated by dancing the ‘Trump shuffle’ on the pitch.
The US President stayed onstage during Spain’s celebrations after handing the trophy to the winners.
Infantino would need to be endorsed by the UN Security Council and receive confirmation from the General Assembly to become the next secretary-general and would have to see off competition from the likes of ex-Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general Rafael Grossi.
He would also face a huge pay cut. His current FIFA salary is around £5.5m which would drop to just £312,000 as secretary-general. But Trump would be delighted.
He has fumed about the UN’s ineffectiveness in ending global conflicts and has withdrawn the US from a number of its sub-groups including the World Health Organization, Human Rights Council and UNESCO.
Infantino is set to be re-elected FIFA president – a post he has held since 2016 – unopposed. He has the formal endorsement of more than 200 of FIFA’s 211 countries for re-election and is on course to be voted into a fourth term by a landslide at the association’s congress in March. Candidates must be put forward by November 18 but Infantino is currently the only runner.