US President Donald Trump warned FIFA against replacing its president, Gianni Infantino, saying the world’s leading football governing body would be making a “terrible mistake” by doing so.

“FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino,” Trump said Monday in a post on his Truth Social account.

Trump praised Infantino as “fantastic,” claiming he had presided over “the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented.”

“If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again!” he said.

Infantino has faced mounting pressure over a failed plan to sell an interest in the World Cup to private equity investors.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a joint open letter Monday that the plan amounted to a "fundamental breach of trust" with the institutions FIFA is meant to serve, warning that "when trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned."

FIFA apologized last week for mistakes made in the plan, saying senior staff at a crisis meeting in Morocco "reaffirmed their full support" for Infantino's presidency.

FIFA added that the proposal "is now off the table" and said it "will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation."

(AA)

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