UEFA delegates exit FIFA congress after Gianni Infantino arrives late from Donald Trump tour

ASUNCION — European members of the FIFA council staged a dramatic walkout at the world governing body’s congress following the late arrival of President Gianni Infantino.

The eight UEFA members of the FIFA council and several European delegates did not return to Thursday’s conference centre in Paraguay, including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and the English Football Association (FA) president Debbie Hewitt.

Advertisement

The exit followed a three-hour delay to the congress, because FIFA president Infantino was late arriving for his own event on Thursday morning, having prioritised meetings with United States president Donald Trump in Doha and Qatar this week.

This included rescheduling the FIFA council, which should have been in person in Paraguay on Tuesday, but was instead held virtually last Friday.

UEFA said the “deeply regrettable” late timetable change due to “what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests” put football’s interests second.

The exit did not appear to be travel-related as key flights returning to Europe were not scheduled until early in the evening from Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital, although some attendees travel by private jet. On Thursday morning, sources familiar with the situation, who declined to comment publicly to protect relationships, had said that some European representatives had considered exiting the event at the originally scheduled end-time of 2pm, in a symbolic protest at Infantino prioritising meetings in the Middle East this week.

His flight to Asuncion still appeared to be in the air for the original local start time of 9:30am in Paraguay, delaying the event until 12:30pm.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (eventually) speaks at FIFA’s congress at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Paraguay on Thursday (Daniel Duarte/AFP)

A UEFA statement read: “The last minute changes to the timings of the FIFA Congress are deeply regrettable.

“The FIFA Congress is one of the most important meetings in world football, where all the 211 nations in the world’s game gather to discuss issues that affect the sport right across the world.

“Our hosts, the Paraguay FA and our partners at CONMEBOL, had gone to considerable effort to accommodate so many delegates and we thank them for their hospitality.

“But to have the timetable changed at the last minute for what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests, does the game no service and appears to put its interests second.

Advertisement

“We are all in post to serve football; from the streets to the podium, and UEFA members of the FIFA Council felt the need on this occasion to make a point that the game comes first and to leave as originally scheduled.”

A statement from Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), who also joined the walkout, read: “The delayed arrival of the FIFA president at the 75th FIFA congress is disappointing. The annual congress is the most important body to ensure good governance of international football. The situation is concerning — 210 member associations have travelled from all over the world to participate, expecting professional leadership and dialogue at the highest level.”

This is the second time in succession that Ceferin has left after the mid-congress coffee break. Last year in Bangkok, Ceferin missed Infantino’s closing remarks and the vote to decide the hosts of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, where Brazil’s proposal defeated the joint-European bid of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. This walkout, however, was significantly more wide-ranging, with representatives on the FIFA council from England, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Cyprus, Montenegro and Romania exiting the room.

The FIFA congress, the decision-making arm of world football’s governing body, meets annually for representatives of member associations to discuss and vote on the game’s important issues.

Infantino, who President Trump has described as “my good friend for a long time”, was present for meetings this week between Trump with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Qatari emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Speaking in February, the FIFA president defended his close relationship with Trump, describing it as “crucial for the success of a World Cup”. The United States will co-host the 2026 tournament with Canada and Mexico.

While Infantino was appearing to form part of the U.S. president’s extended entourage, representatives from global soccer associations met in Asuncion for a week of meetings in Infantino’s absence.

Advertisement

This includes presidents and CEOs or general secretaries of every national federation. Infantino also missed a dinner hosted by the Paraguayan state officials on Wednesday evening, but was due to arrive on Thursday morning in time to address the FIFA congress.

Klaveness added: “I understand the frustration and disappointment from European FIFA members. The NFF vice president and I chose to leave the congress venue together with several European colleagues at 2pm, as initially planned, for a respectful departure. The Norwegian secretary general, Karl-Petter Loken, stayed to express the Norwegian support of the case of the Palestinian FA on the congress agenda.

“We now expect FIFA to explain this situation to its members and ensure that the voices of the member associations are heard and respected.”

Infantino did apologise at the start of congress for being late. He said: “As president of FIFA, my responsibility is to take decisions in the interests of the organisation. I decided to spend the last two days in the Middle East, knowing the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia and the 2022 World Cup was in Qatar. The 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup will be in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Some important World Cup discussions took place and I needed to be there to represent football and all of you. We had an issue with our flight, which made this delay happen — apologies, sorry, and I am looking forward to spending time with you here.”

Victor Montagliani, the CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice-President, initially suggested to reporters that the exodus was due to travel plans but when told UEFA had said it was because of Infantino’s lateness, he said “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

He added: “If somebody is late, then somebody is late. People have their own actions with their own consequences and I can only work on mine and my confederation.”

FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafstrom told reporters: “The President explained at the beginning of the congress the reasons and apologised. We have an excellent relationship with UEFA and the European members. I don’t have any further comments.”

Advertisement

The FA’s walkout on Thursday is particularly dramatic considering England is part of a joint Home Nations proposal to host the Women’s World Cup in 2035 — and no one else has bid for the tournament. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham did remain in the room to ensure the association retained its vote on matters raised at the congress.

Those who left missed a passionate speech from the Palestinian FA, which was seeking to have the Israeli federation suspended for an alleged breach of FIFA statues in a dispute over Israeli teams they argue are based in Palestinian West Bank territory, as well as budgets reports and a presentation from FIFA’s chief of global football development, Arsene Wenger.

(Top photo: Daniel Duarte/AFP via Getty Images)

Click here to read article