Giuliani calls for unanimous support of Infantino in extraordinary FIFA intervention

Andrew Giuliani has said anyone who votes against Gianni Infantino in a FIFA presidential election should be investigated, describing opposition to the governing body’s current president as one of the biggest mistakes a football leader could make.

Giuliani, the former director of the White House working group for the 2026 World Cup, went further by suggesting that Infantino should be re-elected unanimously.

Speaking to The Athletic, Giuliani was asked about the current situation surrounding the FIFA president and replied: “It’s political.”

He added: “We are often jealous when others succeed. But Gianni Infantino has propelled FIFA to an entirely different level, a level it probably never imagined was possible.”

Giuliani is the son of Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and lawyer for Donald Trump. He believes Infantino deserves another term in charge of FIFA and warned football leaders against considering an alternative.

“What I want to say is that for any president of a football association or league who was considering not voting for Gianni Infantino, it would probably be one of the stupidest decisions of his career,” Giuliani said.

He then made his strongest comment about those who might oppose Infantino.

“If Gianni Infantino is not re-elected unanimously, the person who voted against him should be investigated,” Giuliani said.

His remarks came as he also offered an assessment of the widely discussed FIFA FFE plan and Infantino’s record as president.

The plan and Infantino have attracted considerable attention, but Giuliani said the FIFA president’s overall work should be considered before judgements are made.

“Listen, we are all human, and I believe Gianni has already spoken about this recently, but I think this is one of those phenomena where you see that sport has been commercialised and turned into a source of profit,” he said.

Giuliani then argued that the pursuit of commercial success should not outweigh what he sees as Infantino’s efforts to improve FIFA.

“I would say that you have to look at Gianni’s entire body of work and realise that he is constantly trying to improve his organisation, and I think that is the key point,” he said.

“Always trying to improve does not mean that you never make a mistake, does it? As a human being, that happens, but when I look at his work, I think: he is the person I want at the head of FIFA.”

Infantino is the current president of FIFA, while Giuliani previously held a role connected to preparations for the 2026 World Cup.