Gianni Infantino delayed the opening of the annual Fifa Congress on Thursday after arriving from his Middle Eastern tour with Donald Trump late.
Infantino's flight in a Qatari private jet to Paraguay from Doha, via a stop in Nigeria, was still in the air at the 9:30am local time (12:30pm BST) when the meeting in Asuncion was due to kick off.
Fifa then said a new start time was set for three hours later, forcing representatives from 211 member federations to wait.
Officials gathered in Paraguay all week ahead of the last Fifa Congress before the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Fifa president Infantino opted to join United States president Trump on the first legs of the his tour of state visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar instead of meeting with his voting members. Qatar hosted the men's World Cup in 2022 and Saudi Arabia will host in 2034.
On Wednesday in Doha, Qatar's ruling Emir — a fellow member of the International Olympic Committee with Infantino — hosted the visiting delegations at a state dinner at Lusail Palace.
Infantino has built close ties to both Trump administrations. President Trump is set to present the trophy at the finals in New Jersey of both the Club World Cup in July and the World Cup next year.
AP
