Representatives from several European Fifa member associations walked out of the governing body’s annual congress in Paraguay in protest of president Gianni Infantino’s late arrival to the proceedings on Thursday. Infantino had been in the Middle East this week along with Donald Trump visiting leaders from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and arrived in Paraguay hours late for a scheduled 10.30am start time to his organization’s annual meeting.
The departing members included eight European members of theFifaCouncil – the main decision-making body that sets the agenda for the wider congress. Uefa’s representatives on the Council to have walked out include Uefa president Alexander Čeferin and Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt. Other delegates to have left proceedings in protest include Norway Football Federation president Lise Klaveness, who called Infantino’s late arrival “disappointing” and “concerning.”
“The annual congress is the single most important body to ensure good governance of international football,” she said in a statement. “210 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. I understand the frustration and disappointment from European Fifa members, and we feel sorry for the excellent hosts in Paraguay … We now expect Fifa to explain this situation to its members and ensure that the voices of the member associations are heard and respected going forward.”
Infantino had prioritized meetings in the Middle East this week, as the Fifa president appeared at events involving the leaders of countries that hosted the previous World Cup (Qatar), the next men’s World Cup (co-hosted by the US), and the 2034 edition (Saudi Arabia).
Infantino’s delay meant the annual meeting started three hours late. Infantino apologized to his audience several times after his arrival, citing issues with his flight for the delay and insisting it was important he represented soccer at the political meetings.
“As president of Fifa my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organization,” Infantino said. “I felt that I needed to be there to represent football and all of you.”
Infantino’s Middle East visit comes a little more than a week after he appeared at the White House in thefirst public meeting of the Trump administration’s 2026 World Cup taskforce, nominally tasked with ensuring the smooth operation of next year’s tournament. At that event, members of Trump’s cabinet joked about World Cup visitors being subjected to arrest should they overstay their visas – jibes made amid the backdrop of the administration’s illegal deportations of permanent residents and citizens to foreign detention facilities.
“We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game,” said US vice-president JD Vance of World Cup visitors. “But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise they’ll have to talk to [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem.”
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Infantino seemed to address those remarks in his address after he arrived to the Fifa Congress on Thursday, saying that all who wanted to visit for the men’s World Cup or this year’s Club World Cup in the United States would be welcome.
However, he said, “Those who want to come to create trouble, like in every country in the world, well, they are not welcome, they are not welcome anywhere in the world. Actually, let me be clear about that as well – they are not welcome in football. We don’t want troublemakers in football. We want troublemakers out of football.”