US President Donald Trump got a football from FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the Davos forum © AFP / JIM WATSON
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 21 – As head of world football, Gianni Infantino knows a thing or two about athletes and on Tuesday he talent-spotted one he said was world class: President Donald Trump.
“President Trump is made of the same sort of fibre. He is competitive…, he wants to win,” Infantino quipped at a dinner in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where Trump was hosting a Who’s Who of the international CEOs.
FIFA boss Infantino gave Trump a soccer ball, saying he wanted “just to remind everyone what the real priority is of life”.
“It gives joy and it gives hope to millions and millions of people all over the world. That’s all we have to do,” he said.
Trump said it was “very exciting” that Canada, Mexico and the United States were hosting the 2026 football World Cup.
Infantino predicted that the United States — which has a world champion women’s team but remains a lowly presence in the men’s game — was “on the verge of becoming the soccer power of the world”.
The US leader attended the Davos forum on the day that the main part of his impeachment trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress got underway in Washington.
