Gianni Infantino – a member of America’s new oligarchy or simply a very nervous sports official?

FIFA president’s appearance at Trump's inauguration was mired in complexity and sensitivity

Gianni Infantino’s appearance at Donald Trump’s US presidential inauguration has inevitably drawn scorn from all over the world.

Some may have seen it as another ego-driven alpha male episode (for both the FIFA leader and the new American president), others may alternatively have concluded that world football’s top man is now complicit in Trump’s new oligarchic world.

Whilst both may be true, there are other organisational matters for Infantino to confront.

An alternative moniker for geopolitical economy is managing within complexity and sensitivity, and with the election of Trump organising football’s global showcase in 2026 just got tougher for Infantino and FIFA.

With the tournament less than eighteen months away, there were already challenges, not least how to manage the biggest ever World Cup being played across three countries – the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Given that Trump is intent on more stringently controlling border movements with his country’s adjacent neighbours, allied to threats of sizeable trade tariffs being imposed upon both of them FIFA needs to be mindful of what these things could mean for the tournament.

Similarly, with a sponsorship roster that includes Lenovo (China), Hyundai-Kia (South Korea), Qatar Airways (Qatar), and Aramco (Saudi Arabia), there is a possibility that some or all of these FIFA partners may be under US trade sanctions when the World Cup kicks off in June next year.

During his last presidential term, Trump took aim at Hyundai-Kia and Qatar Airways, whilst senior Lenovo officials seem to have spent the best part of a decade making placatory noises about him.

As for Aramco, Trump’s last term in office coincided with a bitter Gulf feud in which Saudi Arabia and Qatar found themselves pitted against one another, which regional observers will be mindful of as we head towards the 2026 mega-event.

As if further evidence of just how complex and sensitive organising the next World Cup might be, in 2023 FIFA announced a partnership with the World Health Organisation which will run to 2027.

In a raft of executive orders signed by Trump on the first day of his second presidency, it has been confirmed that the US plans to leave the WHO, creating yet another juxtaposition that FIFA will have to navigate.

Having grappled with the difficulties of staging its 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Infantino and FIFA were probably hoping that the 2026 tournament edition would be a more stable, predictable, easier to manage affair.

This now seems unlikely.