Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and executive director of the White House Task Force for the recently completed World Cup, voiced his support for embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Friday, calling Infantino’s critics jealous.
Infantino has faced widespread criticism over his plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors. He quashed the idea in late July after all of the outrage, but the plan has nonetheless cost him support for his re-election bid next year.
Among those who have voiced their displeasure with Infantino or announced their refusal to back his reelection are UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), plus the football federations of England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand.
Speaking to The Athletic, Giuliani said politics and pettiness are the true reasons behind the outcry.
“It’s politics. I’ve seen this before,” Giuliani said. “I’ve seen it before when they’ve targeted President Trump from a political perspective. I’ve seen it before when they’ve targeted other people.
“People are jealous when people are very high achievers — and what Gianni Infantino has done for FIFA is he’s taken them to a whole new level that probably they didn’t think was possible.”
Infantino’s plan was to sell approximately 20% of a proposed new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), focused on the commercial and operational facets of the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments.
Among the investors in FFE was to be Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and part of the group that recently agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Look, we are all human beings, and I think it’s one of those things where sport has become monetized and commercialized,” Giuliani added. “I would just say that you have got to look at Gianni’s full body of work and to also realize that he’s always trying to improve his organization, and I think that’s the thing. … I would look at the body of work and say this is the guy I would want leading.”
–Field Level Media
