Gianni Infantino is said to be fighting to keep his grip on FIFA as his private investment plan collapsed and major football authorities pulled their backing, sources have exclusively told RadarOnline.com.
The 56-year-old Swiss-born FIFA president is under pressure in Zurich and beyond after the Football Association of Wales, the 161-year-old English FA and UEFA turned against his leadership, with the row centering on his aborted plan to create a commercial arm for World Cup business and invite outside investors.
The dispute has widened in recent days, with critics accusing Infantino of poor governance, weak consultation and a damaging lack of judgment.
Sources close to the talks said Infantino has been trying to reach US president Donald Trump, 80, in the hope the Republican can help steady his position as opposition hardens.
One well-placed football source told us: “Infantino has been working every possible angle to reach Trump, because he regards him as one of the few people with enough influence to alter the atmosphere around this row.”
The source added: “What he seems to be looking for is a political lifeline as much as a football one, since the backlash to his investment plan has now become so intense. He is essentially begging Trump to save his job.”
The investment plan, which would have created a new vehicle called FIFA Forward Enterprise, was intended to let minority investors buy in to World Cup-linked operations, with Infantino reportedly seeking a role which could have paid about $22million a year.
UEFA has warned it is weighing legal action, arbitration and regulatory complaints, while Concacaf has also publicly criticized the idea.
Another football insider said: “Many in the game viewed it as one step beyond the line – trying to impose a privatized model on a sport that is supposed to belong to the public, while confidence in the process had already evaporated.
“As soon as the European and regional confederations began closing ranks against him, the whole project was basically finished.”
Wales became the first national association to withdraw support for Infantino’s bid to remain in office, and the English FA signaled it would follow after initially backing him.
The FAW said recent events had exposed failures in governance, stakeholder management, communication and leadership, adding putting “the best interests of football first” was non-negotiable.
The pressure has also drawn in US politics.
Trump previously pressed FIFA over Folarin Balogun, the US forward, after his red-card ban at the World Cup, and there had been speculation about talks involving US secretary of state Marco Rubio, though both FIFA and the State Department denied that any such meeting was planned.
Trump has also denied discussing investment plans involving Joshua Kushner, the businessman brother of Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has been among the fiercest critics, and officials in Europe believe Infantino’s position is now barely sustainable.
One senior administrator said: “This is no longer just a rough spell. He has shed too many supporters, and the question has shifted from whether he can withstand the pressure to how much longer he can keep doing so.”
The controversy comes after Spain won the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defeating the defending champions Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final on 19 July 2026.
Substitute Ferran Torres scored the decisive, match-winning goal in the 106th minute at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The victory saw Spain secure their second men’s World Cup title and become the first nation to simultaneously hold both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup trophies.