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Infantino's high-stakes World Cup gamble

Football 2026-07-30, 10:18am

fifa-president-gianni-infantino-with-us-president-donald-trump-4b2ea25df6a83337d1c0981ae642543f1785385089.jpg

FIFA President Gianni Infantino with US President Donald Trump. BBC



Fifa's proposal to sell off stakes in its football competitions - including the World Cup - to private investors has highlighted the ties boss Gianni Infantino has been building with US President Donald Trump. The investment fund Fifa is dealing with, Thrive Capital, is led by Josh Kushner, the brother-in-law of Trump's daughter Ivanka. 

Fifa says Greg Maffei, the former president of Formula 1 owner Liberty Media who has donated to Trump's political campaigns in the past, is acting as a "key commercial advisor". This is the boldest move Infantino has made in the decade since he became Fifa president - and he has enough support to suggest the plan is more likely to go ahead than not, writes BBC Sport senior journalist Daniel Austin. – BBC briefing