“It’s just politics,” Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told critics of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Published on August 15, 2026
Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and executive director of the recently concluded White House World Cup task force, expressed his support for embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino, calling his critics jealous.
Infantino faced widespread criticism over his plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors. He scrapped the idea in late July amid outrage, but the plan nonetheless cost him support in his re-election bid next year.
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Among those who have They expressed their dissatisfaction With Infantino or announcing their refusal to support his re-election are UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation, as well as the football associations of England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand.
Giuliani said that politics and pettiness are the real reasons behind the protest.
“It’s politics. I’ve seen it before,” Giuliani told The Athletic. “I’ve seen it before when they targeted President Trump from a political perspective. I’ve seen it before when they target other people.
“People get jealous when people are high achievers – and what Gianni Infantino did for FIFA – is he took them to a whole new level that they probably didn’t think was possible.”
Infantino’s plan was to sell approximately 20% of the proposed new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would focus on the commercial and operational aspects of the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments.
Among FFE’s investors was Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and part of the group that recently agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Look, we’re all human, and I think that’s one of the things where sports have become profitable and commercialized,” Giuliani added.
“I would just say you have to look at Gianni’s entire body of work and realize that he’s always trying to improve his organization, and I think that’s the thing…I’ll look at Gianni’s whole body of work and say this is the guy I want to lead.”
