Even after the limitless support Gianni Infantino has offered Donald Trump, the U.S. president is clearly not opposed to publicly tossing the FIFA president under an 18-wheeler.
Last week, Infantino assured the world that Trump would “welcome” Iran to the United States for the World Cup. One day later, Trump reiterated that message in a post on Truth Social – and then launched it into the sun.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup,” Trump said, before adding his own unique definition of what that actually meant.
“But I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
For all of Infantino’s praise, awards and cultivation, Trump has returned the favor by creating an unprecedented crisis that FIFA has to reckon with just three months before the World Cup kicks off.
It’s not just Iran; as the entire Middle East becomes caught up in the conflagration, FIFA must contend with another team that looks unable to travel for a World Cup playoff this month.
Even outside of the World Cup, a huge showpiece match pitting Lionel Messi against Lamine Yamal for the first time has been completely scrapped. Games across the region have been moved or binned entirely. There will be more postponements and cancellations to come.
Infantino has been learning lately what so many others have when it comes to Trump: loyalty is only a one-way road in his world.
As much as the Swiss executive has tried to keep Trump onside, there is simply no way to constrain a man of his impulses. Still, the last two months have been especially farcical.
Infantino gave Trump a peace prize in December. Three months later, the U.S. president has forcibly extracted the president of Venezuela in an operation that killed dozens, then started a war in the Middle East that has already killed thousands.
Trump’s guiding light in foreign policy since receiving FIFA Peace Prize is to do the opposite of whatever that award is supposed to embody.
In a certain sense, Infantino’s embrace of Trump has been logical.
The United States is hosting 78 of the 104 matches in the upcoming World Cup, far outstripping Mexico and Canada. Of course FIFA benefits from having a positive working relationship with the president of the United States.
But whatever is going on between Trump and Infantino is quite clearly more than a positive working relationship.
It’s one thing to attend Trump’s inauguration, visit the Oval Office a few times or join a meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace.
It’s another to wear a MAGA-style hat at said meeting, move the World Cup draw to Washington D.C. at the 11th hour, open an office in Trump Tower, or say that “we should all support” the president’s political agenda.
By its own statutes, FIFA is supposed to be a politically neutral organization. But Infantino’s actions have strained any reasonable notion that FIFA is abiding by its own rules.
What has FIFA got for all of this cultivation? It doesn’t appear to be much.
The Trump administration has greased the wheels for foreign visitors to get visa appointments faster and pledged $625 million for host cities’ security – though that is currently held up amid a partial government shutdown.
But that all appears to be standard-issue host country cooperation, not any sort of special arrangement only made possible by FIFA’s close relationship to the U.S. government.
In the meantime, that same government has been making the prospect of visiting the United States an uncomfortable one – especially for those who may oppose the Trump administration’s policies.
In truth, there is probably very little that Infantino could do to constrain Trump. He is, after all, merely a sports executive. Leaders of all stripes have tried and failed to keep Trump under wraps for decades.
But in his unrestrained efforts to befriend Trump, inextricably linking his organization and himself with one mercurial man, Infantino has put his own reputation, as well as FIFA’s, on the line. Right now, those efforts are backfiring.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump threat on Iran embarrasses FIFA president Infantino
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