Senior FIFA figures staged a walk-out in protest over Gianni Infantino's late arrival at their latest congress in Asuncion, Paraguay. The controversial FIFA president had been forced to apologise after delaying the high-profile meeting several times due to joining Donald Trump's tour of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Infantino made a late decision to join U.S. President Trump's delegation in the Middle East. The meeting of the FIFA Council had already been delayed to Thursday and changed to a virtual event, having initially been scheduled to take place in person on Tuesday. Infantino had been present for meetings between President Trump and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

While Infantino was touring with the 78-year-old, representatives from worldwide football associations were holding meetings in his absence in Asuncion. Frustration with his decision to travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar is said to have boiled over.

In a further delay, Thursday's meeting was moved back to 12:30pm after Infantino's flight was held up. Reports this evening suggested that European delegates would walk out during the break after Infantino's speech to show their displeasure over the situation. However, several members of the FIFA Council ended up leaving as part of the protest.

Among those reported by The Times to have walked out are FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. Several senior members of the congress made their displeasure known as Infantino spoke.

After finally arriving at the FIFA congress, Infantino said: “As president of FIFA, my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organisation. I decided to be the last two days in the Middle East knowing the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia and the World Cup in 2022 was in Qatar.

“The ‘25 Club World Cup and ‘26 World Cup will be in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Some important discussions took place in regard to the World Cup, and I felt that I needed to be there to represent football and all of you.

“We had an issue with our flight, which made this delay happen. Apologies. Sorry, and I am looking forward to spending time with you here.”

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 but his management of the global football governing body has split opinion in recent years. He has previously defended his close alliance with President Trump as "critical" due to the USA's joint-hosting of the 2026 World Cup.