FIFA President Gianni Infantino accompanied Trump on his tour of the Middle East, sparking strong condemnation, "like a pet"

FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently accompanied US President Donald Trump on a tour of the Middle East, prompting strong condemnation. On the 16th (local time), according to the British daily "Guardian", the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized that President Infantino accompanied President Trump to visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and caused him to be late for the FIFA annual meeting, which shows the lack of responsibility of the FIFA leadership.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump (Doha, Qatar, 14 of this month)

The organization's director of global initiatives, Benkey Worden, asked Infantino to specify why and the context behind accompanying President Trump on his trip to the Middle East. He asked rhetorically: "President Infantino argues that this meeting is an important meeting between President Trump and Gulf leaders, so why should it take precedence over the FIFA Congress?" ”

Previously, Infantino arrived 2 hours and 17 minutes later than the start time of the FIFA annual meeting in Paraguay on the 15th for accompanying President Trump on his tour of the Middle East. As a result, the conference schedule has been postponed.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who attended the FIFA General Assembly in Paraguay on the 15th of this month

Chairman Infantino explained through his fellow travelers on President Trump's Middle East tour: "I had the perfect opportunity to represent football in important discussions. But the UEFA leadership has always been awkward when they criticized President Infantino's irresponsibility and expressed their displeasure by leaving the game.

UEFA issued a statement criticizing Infantino for "putting private political interests above football itself" and stressed that "the FIFA Congress is the most important meeting of world football, where 211 countries around the world come together to discuss issues affecting global sport".

Infantino's special effort against President Trump is due to the fact that in the United States, the "world's largest sports market", FIFA will hold two World Series during Trump's tenure. The 2026 FIFA CONCACAF World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and will be preceded by a month-long FIFA Club World Cup in the United States starting on the 15th of next month, which will feature 32 clubs from six continents. This Club World Cup is a "big event" prepared by FIFA after the World Cup, the current national competition.

But in European football, there is considerable dissatisfaction with President Gianni Infantino's over-regard of the Trump administration. The Guardian reported that there were indignant claims within UEFA that President Infantino had followed President Trump "like a pet" and showed "arrogance" in defiance of the FIFA Congress.