Trump's Parade, Infantino's Kickoff and the Protest They Both Deserve
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Trump's Parade, Infantino's Kickoff and the Protest They Both Deserve originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Trump's military parade, Infantino's Club World Cup and the "No Kings" protest all collide today - raising questions about power, ego and public backlash.
Across the US there will be demonstrations under the banner "No Kings", a call to reject authoritarianism in a week that's seen federal operations aimed at chasing down and capturing unauthorized immigrants at their jobs and on city streets. The themes of the protest echo criticisms of FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino.
German human rights expert Sylvia Schenk said:
"Infantino behaves like a sun king at FIFA. And nobody does anything against it. You can only watch it with amazement".
Meanwhile Trump himself described Infantino as
“my great friend” and “sort of the king of soccer… I guess… in a certain way”.
Trump and Infantino have been joined at the hip lately, hanging out in Saudi Arabia and Qatar together. FIFA has awarded Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup unopposed, despited concerns about human rights.
Related: Calls to Boycott 2026 World Cup Surge After Trump-FIFA Scandal and New Travel Ban
Per The Atlantic, two leading human rights groups have accused FIFA of being “utterly negligent” in its responsibility to the millions of migrant workers who will build the stadiums and infrastructure Saudi Arabia needs to host the tournament.
In an eerily similar parallel, The American Civil Liberties Union writes:
"Trump has sought every way to terrorize entire communities in a hunt for our immigrant neighbors that will put all of our civil liberties in danger."
Recently fans attending CWC games have been warned that they could be targeted by agents who will be "suited and booted". But when asked about reports of ICE and Border Security agents patrolling CWC games, Infantino stated, “I don’t have any concerns about anything".
But the estimated 3.5 million+ people (per CNN) who will attend the "No Kings" demonstrations certainly do have concerns, while many soccer fans have been echoing similar complaints about the unchecked power of FIFA and Infantino.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
