Infantino seeks White House help to keep his post

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is seeking help from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to keep his post; on August 3, the soccer official will hold talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

This was reported by the New York Post, citing sources.

"He wanted to contact the secretary of state and talk about how soccer could be part of America's soft power. But we all know that this is about protection from dismissal. At this stage, it cannot be about anything else," one of the newspaper's interlocutors said.

According to the newspaper, amid the scandal, the FIFA president repeatedly tried to reach Trump by phone. As the publication recalls, Infantino came under fire after he proposed selling a share of the rights to the World Cup to private investors. He later abandoned the idea.

The plan envisaged the creation of a company that would control FIFA's main men's and women's competitions. According to Infantino, the creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise would increase the profits of FIFA member associations and contribute to the development of soccer worldwide. The International Federation of Association Football stated that this scheme could attract $4.2 billion. The initiative was massively criticized and condemned by officials, federations and other organizations, and journalist Romain Molina reported Infantino's imminent resignation, since the official had lost support within the organization.

Source: TASS