Why is FIFA President Gianni Infantino courting President Trump?

About 30 minutes after Friday's World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, a landmark Donald Trump would like to rename for himself, the president was called to the stage to receive an award from FIFA head Gianni Infantino.

The so-called FIFA World Prize did not exist five weeks ago. And when Infantino created it, there were never any candidates for this award except Trump, who campaigned hard, but unsuccessfully for the Nobel Peace Prize. That made Friday's presentation awkward and uncomfortable for just about everyone except Infantino and Trump.

“You definitely deserve the first FIFA World Prize for your actions, for what you have achieved along the way,” Infantino said as Trump grabbed his medal and hung it around his neck.

“This is truly one of the greatest honors of my life,” Trump said.

For these two, this conversation was just the latest in a strange bromance that deepened as beneficially as June's relationship. The World Cup has become closer.

“These are two huge egos stroking each other,” said a former U.S. soccer official who asked not to be identified to avoid possible reprisals. “I'm guessing Infantino's ulterior motive is to get as much government support as possible and to make sure that Trump, despite some unhelpful comments, doesn't do anything to interfere with the tournament.

“For Trump, the opportunity to brand himself as hosting the world’s largest sporting event in front of a global audience is irresistible.”

A FIFA spokesman said Infantino must maintain cooperative relationships with host countries and noted that he has forged strong ties with Trump as well as the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

“According to the FIFA Statutes, “The President shall endeavor to maintain and develop good relations between FIFA, the confederations, member associations, political bodies and international organizations,” FIFA said in a statement. “In addition, the FIFA president must maintain good relations with the leaders of the host countries to ensure a successful event for everyone.”

For FIFA and Infantino, a longtime football executive who has used his connections and intelligence to rise to the top of the world's most popular sport, the partnership is designed to secure the support of the president and limit his interference in businesswhich could become the most profitable World Cup ever.

In recent months, Infantino, who has had a front row seat to presidential inauguration invited Trump to present club world champion Chelsea players with their winner's medals in January – one of which Trump pocketed – followed the president to Egypt in October for a summit to finalize the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and rented space in Trump's Manhattan office building.

Infantino has also been a frequent visitor to the White House and Mar-a-Lago and was able to greet Trump on stage at the Kennedy Center on Friday only because he abruptly moved the World Cup draw from Las Vegas to Washington at Trump's request, upending months of plans.

For Trump, America's top sports fan, the relationship means a role in the biggest and most challenging sporting event in history, and the attention and recognition that comes with it.

At the same time, Trump's mercurial management style and penchant for cutting ties with allies mean Infantino can't take anything for granted. As a result, says David Goldblatt, a British sportswriter and visiting professor at Pitzer College at Claremont College, Infantino's actions were shrewd, if sometimes humiliating.

Facing a powerful but unpredictable leader in a country about to host a World Cup that could generate revenue of more than $9 billion, the FIFA president, a former Trump critic, decided to put those differences aside and appeal to Trump's love of tributes and trinkets rather than risk his wrath.

“It’s a different world,” Goldblatt said of Infantino’s concerns that Trump could damage the World Cup if he wanted to. “This is not how states and heads of state acted before.”

Infantino, 55, became head of FIFA, world soccer's governing body, in 2016 when he was chosen to replace scandalous Sepp Blatter in a vote led by Sunil Gulati, then president of the United States Soccer Federation. At the time, Infantino, born in Switzerland to Italian immigrants, was seen as a progressive reformer who would take the insular and conservative organization, the most influential and powerful governing body in world sport, in a different direction.

And he has achieved some of that, expanding the fields for the men's and women's World Cups, increasing prize money for women's tournaments, expanding other competitions such as the Club World Cup and nearly quadrupling FIFA's cash reserves. At the same time, he also became comfortable forming alliances with autocrats.

Ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Infantino developed such a close relationship with Vladimir Putin that after the tournament he was summoned to the Kremlin to host Medal of the Order of Friendshipone of the highest awards in Russia. This friendship apparently survived: on Friday This was reported by the news agency Follow the Money FIFA has ordered several European clubs to pay Russian teams transfer fees of up to $30 million, despite international sanctions and banking restrictions imposed on the country following Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Infantino moved to the emirate, rented a house and enrolled his two children in local schools. He rejected well-documented human rights violations like the hypocrisy of the West, and on the eve of the tournament he sided with the country's leadership, banning team captains from wearing rainbow armbands and banning longtime sponsor Budweiser from selling beer at World Cup venues.

During Trump's first administration, Infantino was a sharp critic of the Muslim ban that the president tried to impose, fearing the possible impact it would have on international sports. This time, Infantino largely ignored Trump's decision to restrict entry into the United States to citizens of 19 countries, including Haiti and Iran, qualifying for the World Cup, which will have a very real impact on next summer's tournament.

“Infantino is intoxicated by the elite circles of power, status and wealth into which he has entered,” Goldblatt said. “Now he's king of the universe and moves in pretty high circles. How does he cope in this world?”

Infantino's change has caused concern and concern among many world football officials, who are concerned that he has abandoned FIFA's mandatory political neutrality. Delegates from UEFA, European soccer's governing body where Infantino previously served, walked out of May's FIFA congress in Paraguay after Infantino arrived hours late due to a trip to the Middle East with Trump.

“The FIFA president's private political interests do not bring any benefit to the game,” delegates said.

Or maybe so, says Adam Beissel, an assistant professor of sports leadership and management at Miami University in Ohio and the author of several books and studies on the inner workings of FIFA.

“Maybe it was all worth it to get federal subsidies for the World Cup, to get support for an event that would generate $9 billion in revenue,” he said.

By all accounts, the friendship between Trump and Infantino is genuine, although ultimately transactional. Trump calls the FIFA leader “Johnny” and “my boy,” while Infantino stunned his staff by announcing the creation of the FIFA Peace Prize and presenting it to a president whose administration continues to bomb suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and threatens military action against Venezuela.

The FIFA President would probably like it if Trump stops threatening to cancel World Cup games from blue cities – impossible so close to the tournament, but nonetheless a threat Trump is happy to make – and eased the travel ban on visitors who would like to attend the World Cup.

But at this point, he'll probably be content with the president just letting the show go on. And if the price of this is a prize for Trump, Infantino appears willing to pay that price.