New FIFA president Gianni Infantino has denied that promises to the United States over who will host the 2026 World Cup secured his election win.
US Soccer Federation head Sunil Gulati switched his vote to Infantino in the second round of Friday’s voting.
“I spoke with many delegates… trying to tell them that they should vote for football and for me,” Infantino said.
Asked if he made promises to Gulati about the 2026 tournament, he added: “No, certainly not.”
In the second round of voting, UEFA general secretary Infantino picked up 27 extra votes.
The other frontrunner, Asian confederation chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, managed just three more.
Following the election at Fifa’s extraordinary congress in Zurich on Friday, Gulati said: “We told Gianni that we would support Prince Ali but also gave him the assurance that when it mattered we would be with him.”
Bidding processes for the 2026 World Cup were postponed in the summer amid a corruption crisis that has engulfed Fifa since last May.
That decision was taken after the way the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded, to Russia and Qatar, became part of an ongoing Swiss criminal investigation.
