UEFA delegates, led by President Aleksander Ceferin staged a walkout in protest of FIFA President Gianni Infantino's late arrival for the world governing body's congress in Paraguay.

Mr Gianni Infantino joined President of the United States Donald Trump on his 4-day tour of the Middle East, which started on May 12, and lasted four days, concluding on May 15.

Gianni Infantino went with Trump to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on May 12 and May 14, respectively.

In Qatar, they both attended a state dinner at Lusail Palace hosted by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, where the FIFA president joined in discussions about the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.Consequently, he was two hours and 17 minutes late for the FIFA event which was scheduled to start at 10:30 (14:30 BST).In reaction to this, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, in a statement, slammed Infantino for prioritising "private political interests" over what he describes as "one of the most important meetings in world football".

"The Fifa congress is one of the most important meetings in world football, where all the 211 nations in the world's game gather to discuss issues that affect the sport right across the world," said European football's governing body.

"To have the timetable changed at the last minute for what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests, does the game no service and appears to put its interests second.

We are all in post to serve football, from the streets to the podium, and UEFA members of the Fifa council felt the need on this occasion to make a point that the game comes first and to leave as originally scheduled."

Aleksander Ceferin, alongside European FIFA Council members such as Razvan Burleanu, Pascal Van Damme, Bernd Neuendorf, Debbie Hewitt, Sandor Csanyi, Dejan Savicevic, and Georgios Koumas, walked out during a break.

It meant there were empty seats at the Conmebol Convention Centre in Luque, on the outskirts of the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, when the meeting resumed.

Uefa said in a statement the "last-minute changes" to the timings were "deeply regrettable" but "a point" had to be made.

Norwegian FA president Lise Klaveness added: "The annual congress is the single most important body to ensure good governance of international football."

"The situation is concerning. Member associations have travelled from all over the world to participate at this congress here in Paraguay, expecting professional leadership and dialogue at the highest level."

A number of delegates from Concacaf - the North America, Central America and Caribbean confederation - also decided to leave the congress early.

FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom tried to defuse the tensions and said: "FIFA has an excellent relationship with UEFA and also with the European members.""The president explained the reasons why he was delayed. He had important matters to deal with, and we have had a great congress here."