Paris (France) (AFP) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s ability to brush aside criticism and push through enlarged versions of the Club World Cup and World Cup lent him an air of omnipotence, but a failed private investor plan has left his position under threat for the first time. When the 56-year-old, who holds Swiss, Italian, and Lebanese citizenship, strode onto the pitch with his close friend, US President Donald Trump, after the World Cup final a fortnight ago, his stock could not have been higher. The largest and most complex edition of the sport’s jewel in the crown, featuring 48 teams and spread over three countries, was largely judged a success despite a series of off-pitch controversies. He had also delivered more money into the coffers of his electorate, FIFA’s 211 member associations. The son of Italian migrants, who once said he had been bullied in Switzerland when he was a youngster for having red hair and freckles, was riding high.
Infantino has largely limited his media appearances, unlike his predecessor Sepp Blatter. That rare revelation about being bullied as a child came as he was attempting to bat off criticism of 2022 World Cup host Qatar’s human rights record. “I am not an Arab, I am not African, I am not gay, I am not disabled,” he said. “But I feel like it, because I know what it means to be discriminated against as a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child I was bullied – because I had red hair and freckles.” The lawyer was first elected in 2016 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, but he has been accused of allowing FIFA to become an autocracy in recent years. For his critics, this was epitomised by the debacle of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, announced and then shelved last week.
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FFE, very much seen as Infantino’s project, envisaged bringing private investment into FIFA’s tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups. Revealed last Tuesday, it was dead in the water by Saturday after a widespread backlash. Former UEFA president Michel Platini, under whom Infantino served as secretary-general from 2009, has been one of Infantino’s most outspoken critics. “Unfortunately Infantino has become more of an autocrat since the (Covid) pandemic,” Platini told English newspaper The Guardian in January. “I think he lost the game. There is less democracy than in Blatter’s time,” added the 71-year-old Frenchman, who was banned from football in 2015 for a payment he received from FIFA in 2011.
Platini, who has since been exonerated in a Swiss court, portrays Infantino in a less than flattering light. “He was a good No.2, but is not a good No.1,” said Platini. “He worked very well at UEFA but he has one problem: he likes the rich and powerful people, the ones with money. It’s his character.” Infantino’s friendship with Trump, whom he awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize despite widespread ridicule, has come under scrutiny. One of the most controversial moments of the World Cup was the suspension of US striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban, which had come after a phone call from Trump, freeing him to play in the last 16 against Belgium.
That Infantino’s FFE plan involved the firm of Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, only added to the impression of his desire to rub shoulders with the powerful. “Josh Kushner’s firm has a legitimate track record,” Terrence Burns, who was a brand marketing strategist for two successful World Cup host bids, told AFP. “But the association was always going to be read politically, in a year when Infantino’s proximity to the White House was already the subject of formal ethics complaints, and after a red card review a good many federations regarded as a red line. We’ve understood in sponsorship for 40 years that a partner brings their whole context with them, and the diligence question isn’t ‘Is this money clean?’ but ‘What will this money be understood to mean?'” That test was either not run, not believed, or not cared about.
After the collapse of his controversial World Cup sell-off plan, Infantino said he would focus on restoring harmony. “Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together…in the spirit of shared interest in our game,” he said. “And with the objective to continue growing football everywhere.” Infantino will learn whether his time is up at the FIFA presidential election in Rabat next March, for which nominations close on November 18.
© 2024 AFP
