There are long periods when history appears motionless, followed by brief moments when years of change unfold at once and those in power suddenly become vulnerable. Less than two weeks ago, Gianni Infantino was celebrating on Instagram and condemning critics “behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumours” for questioning aspects of a World Cup that reportedly produced record revenue of $15bn. A day later, however, details emerged of his proposal to offer outside investors a stake in the tournament, triggering fierce opposition and leaving him fighting to protect his presidency.
The speed of recent events has been extraordinary, although the origins of the dispute reach back to Zurich in 2010, when the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar rather than the United States. Bill Clinton reportedly reacted furiously and demanded a response. An FBI corruption investigation followed, as did the cooperation of flamboyant Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer, who maintained two apartments in Trump Tower: one for himself and another for his cats.
Blazer later became the genial, bearded symbol of corruption within Fifa. He travelled on a mobility scooter with his parrot, Max, perched on his shoulder and once exchanged a high-five with Vladimir Putin after the Russian president remarked that he resembled Karl Marx. More importantly, Blazer’s testimony helped produce the arrests at Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel in 2015, followed six days later by Sepp Blatter’s resignation.
Michel Platini, then president of Uefa, was widely expected to succeed Blatter. Yet he was viewed unfavourably by the United States because he had changed his vote in favour of Qatar after attending a meeting at the Élysée Palace with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatar’s crown prince and prime minister. Platini has always denied that the meeting influenced his decision.
Evidence then surfaced of a payment Platini had received from Fifa in 2011, resulting in his suspension. Michael Lauber, the federal prosecutor in Bern, departed from normal procedure by describing Platini as occupying a position “between a witness and a suspect”. That was enough to force Platini aside and allow Infantino to become Uefa’s candidate. Lauber later became Switzerland’s attorney general but resigned after it emerged that he had secretly met Infantino while investigating Fifa. Platini was eventually cleared and is pursuing legal action against both Fifa and Infantino.
Infantino was serving as Uefa’s general secretary at the time and was best known publicly for his intensely serious presentation of Champions League draws. In February 2016, he won the Fifa presidency by defeating Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, president of the Asian Football Confederation. Sheikh Salman, a keen wild-boar hunter, denied claims that he had been involved in the torture of pro-democracy activists. A late shift by the Caribbean voting bloc proved crucial, with US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati claiming credit for persuading its members.
After a friendly figure took office, the United States, Mexico and Canada secured hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup. At a 2020 dinner in Davos, Donald Trump told Infantino that both men had wanted the tournament there and claimed they had achieved it before entering office. The timeline complicates that assertion: Infantino was elected in February 2016, Trump was inaugurated in January 2017 and the hosting decision was made in May 2018.
The United States has remained central throughout Infantino’s presidency. He assumed control while US attorney general Loretta Lynch was promising to remove corruption from Fifa, but decisive enforcement largely amounted to a small number of cases concerning questionable South American broadcasting agreements. In May 2019, Fifa appointed the American law firm Paul Weiss as its legal representative. Only weeks earlier, the firm had announced Lynch as a new senior partner. The following year, she commended Fifa for what she called its new “transparency and ethical behaviour”.
Many observers would dispute that assessment. Infantino entered office promising institutional reform, but within a year he had removed two senior members of Fifa’s ethics commission. During the same weekend that Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey, partly amid an investigation into Russian interference in American politics, Infantino removed governance and review committee chair Miguel Maduro. Maduro had prevented Russian Football Union chief Vitaly Mutko from being re-elected as a Fifa vice-president because his position as Russia’s sports minister conflicted with rules limiting political involvement.
Infantino increasingly worked around the Fifa council, avoided the scrutiny of press conferences and governed through unilateral decisions. The proposed sale of part of the World Cup business is the clearest example. It raises fundamental questions: why was a plan of such importance withheld from senior employees? Why were members given only 53 days to assess it and offered a financial incentive to approve it? Why introduce hydration breaks and a half-time performance that could weaken the tournament itself? And why bypass disciplinary procedures to ensure particular players remained available, apparently strengthening the competition’s appeal to prospective investors?
Individuals involved in the proposed transaction had connections to the Trump family, particularly Joshua Kushner, brother of the president’s son-in-law. That prompted further scrutiny. Why surrender 21% of all future income in exchange for a sum equivalent to only 28% of the revenue generated by this World Cup? Infantino’s association with Trump had already drawn criticism: he gave him the first Fifa Peace Prize, appeared beside him at international events, presented him with a Club World Cup trophy and leased a seemingly little-used Fifa office in Trump Tower.
Uefa’s firm and coordinated opposition, including the possibility of boycotting Fifa competitions, appears to have caught Infantino by surprise. The proposal has been abandoned for the moment, but the controversy has weakened him. He remains in office after securing at least some backing from senior Fifa employees during an emergency meeting in Rabat this week. Chief operating officer Kevin Lamour was notably absent. He was one of only two members of the five-person inner council who opposed the proposal after learning about it one day before the World Cup final. Meanwhile, efforts to expand the tournament to 64 teams have accelerated, potentially reinforcing Infantino’s support base.
Some organisations that had previously indicated they would support another uncontested term for Infantino are now withdrawing their endorsements. On Friday, possibly encouraged by the prospect of Casablanca hosting the 2030 World Cup final, the Confederation of African Football declared its backing. It joined Mexico, Argentina, Qatar, the UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bhutan and Sri Lanka in supporting him.
A presidential election may still proceed next March as planned, and Infantino may yet secure a majority among Fifa’s 211 members. Uefa, however, has promised to obstruct Fifa’s operations until he leaves. The first competition vulnerable to a boycott is the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, scheduled to begin in Poland on 5 September. Poland has invested heavily in infrastructure and wants the event to proceed, but its football federation is unlikely to break ranks with the rest of Uefa.
Political manoeuvring continues, although attention already appears focused more on who could challenge or defeat Infantino than on how Fifa itself might be transformed. Patronage has dominated the organisation since João Havelange won its presidential election in 1974. The deeper problem is institutional, and the damage may be beyond repair.
It is difficult to determine how sincere Infantino’s original commitment to reform truly was, but that effort quickly collapsed. Fifa’s attempt to recover from the scandal involving an executive who rented a Trump Tower apartment for his cats has therefore returned to the same building, now through a president who leases an office there.
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