After hours of delay
© Imago
In protest against the behavior of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the European Council delegates left the podium at the congress of the World Corporate Association. After the coffee break, the officials led by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf did not return to the places reserved for them behind the FIFA chairman.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the European officials protested against the behavior of Infantino, who had arrived in Asunción too late after his Middle East trip with US President Donald Trump. Members of 211 associations had to wait hours. After all, the congress started with more than three hours late. Infantino apologized, but then held the general assembly routinely.
The head of the World Football Association had flown to Asunción with a private jet, but had not reached the capital of Paraguay in time. Infantino had spent the past few days in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to accompany US President Donald Trump there.
This trip had caused critical comments in official circles, since the Swiss had already missed appointments in the run -up to the general assembly. Hundreds of delegates were waiting for Infantino in Asunción. There were problems with his plane, he said. The trip with Trump was necessary. “As FIFA president, it is my responsibility to make decisions in the interests of the organization. I felt that I had to be there to represent football and all of them.”