“The grand announcement was supposed to come on the eve of the World Cup final at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, when FIFA president Gianni Infantino planned to unveil his plan to sell a stake in its competitions to private investors, including Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared. The previous evening, he held court alongside the U.S. president at Trump Tower. Infantino described the 2026 World Cup as ‘the greatest human, social and cultural event mankind has ever witnessed.’ In front of a room of billionaires, extended Trump family members and soccer federation executives, Infantino’s grip on the sport appeared impregnable. He wrote on Instagram that he had already received pledges of support from more than 200 of the 211 member federations for re-election in 2027, having announced his candidacy in April, with the African, Asian and South American confederations unanimously backing him. The World Cup may have been mired in the scandals of rejected visas, Trump interference and numerous statewide investigations into FIFA’s ticketing practices, but it yielded $15billion (£11bn) in revenues, which had a muzzling effect on those who were uneasy with Infantino’s leadership. …”
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