​Gianni Infantino has orchestrated one of the most controversial World Cups in history.Given that this is a competition whose hosts have included Benito Mussolini’s Italy, an Argentina under the rule of a brutal military junta and, more recently, Russia four years post-Crimea annexation and Qatar, who used indentured labor to build its stadiums, that is saying something.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt is the naked commercialism of this World Cup, now into the semi-final stage, that initially occupied so many column inches, air time and smartphone pixels.The tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico is expected to help FIFA’s revenues grow to $13bn in the current four-year cycle, up from $7.5bn in the previous cycle.But it is the apparent interference of Donald Trump’s White House in this summer’s World Cup which, for many fans, has been the final straw.Photo by Stephanie Scarbrough – Pool/Getty ImagesTrump’s call to Infantino to cajole the FIFA president into overturn leading light Folarin Balogun’s red card for the USMNT’s round-of-16 meeting with Belgium, which the host nation ultimately lost 4-1, is now a matter of public record.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementInfantino says that the telephone conversation had no bearing whatsoever on the decision made by FIFA disciplinary chairman Mohammad al Kamali.But whatever the reality, the optics have been appalling for world soccer’s governing body, especially set against the context of Infantino having cozied up to Trump since his re-election in November 2024.Publicly, many fans are calling on Infantino to step down. Privately, several member nations are saying the same.Infantino may not be the most popular among fans, but it is not fans who give him his mandate as FIFA president.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFIFA’s constitution operates under a one country, one vote system.In that setup, Cape Verde (population 530,000) have the same voting rights as the United States (population 349 million; as do Montserrat (200 registered footballers) and Germany (6 million registered footballers). When it comes to electing the president, each of the 211 member FAs have an equal say.Until last week, for example, the English FA was reportedly ready to vote for Infantino when he stands for re-election in 2027. But after UEFA, the game’s governing body in Europe, said FIFA had “crossed a red line” with its handling of the Trump-Balogun incident and many other stakeholders have expressed their concerns about Infantino’s integrity, their stance is now less certain.The timing of Infantino appearing to suggest that another expansion of the World Cup to 64 teams is, therefore, interesting. “These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup,” he told Swiss media when asked about the possibility of adding a further 16 teams to the tournament from 2030.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe 2026 World Cup is already the biggest ever, with 48 teams tak