FIFA Congress members walk out after Gianni Infantino’s late arrival following meeting with Donald Trump

Select members of the FIFA Congress walked out of their annual meeting on Thursday in a rebuke of president Gianni Infantino, who forced the meeting to start several hours late as he was traveling back from a trip to the Middle East, where he spent time with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The annual meeting, which this year took place in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. local time but was pushed until 12:30 p.m. because of Infantino’s travel schedule. His Qatari private jet was still in the air at the time the meeting was supposed to begin, per The Athletic, and his lengthy journey included a pit stop in Nigeria to refuel the plane.

The eight UEFA members of the FIFA council, along with some European delegates, did not return to the meeting, including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, according to The Athletic. 

Infantino was in Qatar and Saudi Arabia alongside Trump and was present for the U.S. president’s meetings with Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman. The FIFA president has spent a lot of time with Trump since the latter returned to the office, attending pre-inauguration events and the inauguration itself in January and making multiple trips to the White House for what FIFA has described as official business before the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will host. Infantino was also on site at the White House last week for a meeting of the World Cup task force.

The FIFA president chose to go to the Middle East despite previously scheduled events in Asuncion, including the meeting of the Congress that was originally set for Tuesday of this week. Infantino delayed the meeting by two days to join Trump, missing opportunities to connect with the presidents and general secretaries of all FIFA member associations. Infantino also missed a dinner hosted by Paraguayan state officials on Wednesday.

Upon his delayed arrival in Asuncion, Infantino apologized for his tardiness, but he also defended himself.

“As president of FIFA, my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organization,” Infantino said. “I decided to be the last two days in the Middle East knowing the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia and the World Cup in 2022 was in Qatar. The ’25 Club World Cup and ’26 World Cup will be in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Some important discussions took place in regard to the World Cup, and I felt that 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.”

Infantino’s apology did not appease attendees, who then staged a walkout. Several officials from European countries left at 2 p.m. local time, as was part of their initial plans. Lise Klaveness, the president of the Norwegian Football Federation, was particularly critical of Infantino’s conduct.

“The delayed arrival of the FIFA president at the 75th FIFA Congress is disappointing,” Klaveness said, per The New York Times. “The annual congress is the single most important body to ensure good governance of international football. The situation is concerning. [Two hundred and ten] member associations have traveled from all over the world to participate at this Congress here in Paraguay, expecting professional leadership and dialogue at the highest level.”

Among the issues on the agenda for this year’s FIFA Congress were a review of FIFA’s annual report, the election of the disciplinary committee, the ethics committee, the appeal committee, and the governance, audit and compliance committee, as well as other proposals from the member associations.