FIFA has denied reports claiming that president Gianni Infantino sought support from the Trump administration to secure his position, as reported by İdman.Biz, citing the New York Post.
The newspaper alleged that, amid growing pressure for his resignation, Infantino had attempted to arrange a private conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
FIFA rejected the claims in a statement posted on social media.
"The FIFA president has not been in contact with the President of the United States or any member of his administration in recent days. This report is completely false."
A spokesperson for the US Department of State also said that no meeting or conversation between Infantino and Rubio had been planned.
According to the report, the controversy stemmed from FIFA's proposal to consolidate its broadcasting, sponsorship, licensing and ticketing revenues into a new commercial entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The plan reportedly involved selling a 20% stake in the company to private investors to raise approximately $4.2 billion.
Investment firm Thrive Capital, led by Joshua Kushner, was named as one of the potential partners. Following strong opposition, FIFA reportedly abandoned the proposal, while UEFA sent the governing body a legal notice requesting the preservation of documents and electronic communications related to the project.
