Gianni Infantino is on the phone to Marco Rubio. That tells you everything about where his FIFA presidency stands right now.
According to the New York Post, the FIFA president has scheduled a private call with the US Secretary of State for Monday morning, framed publicly as a conversation about "soccer as a form of soft power for America." Nobody is buying that framing. "We all know that it is about job protection," said one insider briefed on the matter. "It is not about anything else at this point."
This follows a genuinely chaotic few days at the top of world football. Infantino's FIFA Forward Enterprise — a plan to allow private investors to take a minority stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other FIFA competitions — collapsed on Friday after widespread opposition from confederations and national associations. He's reportedly tried and failed multiple times to reach Donald Trump directly. Rubio is, apparently, the next best option.
The walls are closing in
Over the weekend, both CONCACAF and UEFA publicly condemned the proposal and Infantino's leadership, calling for a "comprehensive reckoning." That's not routine boardroom friction. Two of FIFA's six confederations turning on the sitting president — simultaneously — is a structural crisis.
Then Monday arrived and made things worse. The Football Association of Wales became the first national association to formally withdraw its support for Infantino's reelection bid. Reports followed almost immediately that the English FA would do the same.
Once England pull their backing, others will feel permission to follow. National associations tend to move in clusters on this kind of thing, and the English FA carries institutional weight that smaller federations take their cues from.
- FIFA Forward Enterprise abandoned Friday after confederation opposition
- CONCACAF and UEFA both called for accountability over the weekend
- Football Association of Wales first national body to withdraw reelection support
- English FA reported to be withdrawing support shortly after
- Infantino has reportedly failed to reach Trump directly
Whether the Rubio call produces anything useful is almost beside the point now. Infantino spent the weekend watching the political ground shift under him, and no amount of soft-power framing changes the count of national associations heading for the exit.
