Trump would like Gianni Infantino to lead the UN

The New York Post reports that Donald Trump would like to see Gianni Infantino at the helm of the United Nations. According to sources close to the White House, the FIFA president is respected throughout the world and has a unique ability to bring people together. Among the sources cited by the newspaper is Paolo Zampolli, a diplomat who served for many years as ambassador to the UN. António Guterres’s term expires in December, and the names circulating among the potential candidates have been described by an insider as ‘weak’. To secure the post, Infantino would need to pass through two stages: the endorsement of the fifteen members of the Security Council – where the vetoes of China and Russia remain the biggest obstacle – and then the approval of the General Assembly.

There is also the geographical aspect. Infantino, a European like the outgoing Portuguese secretary-general, would have to override the unwritten rule of continental rotation, which would see the next secretary-general come from Latin America. Two consecutive terms from the same continent would be an anomaly, though not without precedent: it has already happened with Africa, between Boutros Ghali and Kofi Annan, but only because Washington had blocked the Egyptian’s reappointment. It is unclear whether Infantino is genuinely interested in the role, or whether Trump has already spoken to him about it. What is certain is that the pay cut would be drastic: at FIFA, the Swiss national earns over five million euros a year, compared with the general secretary’s salary of around 366,000. Infantino, moreover, has already announced his intention to stand again for the FIFA presidency in the March 2027 elections.

Whilst reports in New York focus on promotions, a showdown is unfolding in Spain. Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, does not mince his words: Infantino’s time is up, he says, and FIFA is damaging football for its own interests. The Balogun case – the American striker’s suspension being lifted following intervention by the White House – remains the most recent wound, and for Tebas it is merely the tip of the iceberg. At the World Cup, he adds, FIFA imposed a 27-minute interval when it suited them, passing off what were in reality advertising breaks as hydration breaks: in the stadiums in Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta, he says, the air conditioning worked so well that he was forced to wear a jumper in the stands – a sign that the heat did not in any way justify those breaks. No one is standing against Infantino in the FIFA elections in November, Tebas admits, but the system that supports him is “rotten to the core”: those who collaborate are active accomplices; those who remain silent are passive accomplices.