Critics of Gianni Infantino need to ‘get their head examined’ – Andrew Giuliani

Under-fire FIFA president Gianni Infantino has taken the governing body to a “whole new level” which has left his critics “jealous”, according to Andrew Giuliani, who was executive director for the White House Task Force on the 2026 World Cup.

New Zealand’s football federation became the latest organisation to withdraw its support for the Infantino’s re-election next year as he continues to lose global support over his aborted plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup to private investors.

European governing body UEFA, the North and Central American confederation CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had already made it clear Infantino had lost their confidence, while a number of individual associations – including England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland – have also confirmed they will not back the president.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and South American governing body CONMEBOL have, though, both endorsed Infantino to win a fourth presidential term at the FIFA Congress in March.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned FIFA would be making a “terrible mistake” if it got rid of Infantino.

Giuliani – son of former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani – claimed anyone who wanted Infantino removed “needs to get their head examined”.

“It’s politics. I’ve seen this before. 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,” Giuliani told The Athletic.

“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.

“You’ve got to remember, this is the first