Is this it? Is this the end of Gianni Infantino? The man who replaced the corrupt Sepp Blatter, and somehow ended up a worse president, might have bitten off more than he can chew with his latest proposals to acquire private investment for FIFA.
Infantino has slowly created his own ‘personal brand’ as the face of FIFA over his tenure as FIFA president since 2016. The last few years seem like controversy after controversy, from the incredible pre-Qatar World Cup speech where he proclaimed “today I feel gay, today I feel African, today I feel disabled” etc. through to the courting of Donald Trump during the Club World Cup and visits to the Oval Office, and then the whole mess of the recent World Cup.
The World Cup is the pinnacle of the beautiful game. As fans of football, we love it. The expanded men’s World Cup this year was looked at as a cash grab though, a way to inflate the coffers of FIFA headquarters with more matches in the group stages alone than in any previous complete tournament. There was a worry that the quality would be diluted, but in the end the entertainment on the pitch was to a high standard on the most part.
The choice of the USA as one of the three host countries however, turned out to be laughable. After the outcry of Qatar and Russia as hosts in the previous two editions, the US certainly tried to do worse. The Trump administration made it as difficult as possible for fans from certain countries to enter the country, the Iran team and coaching staff were treated like criminals for daring to go to the World Cup, and even a referee from Somalia was denied entry to officiate. Infantino did nothing to help. Instead, he just told the world to “Chill”. Unbelievable. On top of that, ticket prices were extortionate, beyond extreme, causing empty seats in some matches and a price gouge on every type of fan, from the cheapest seats up to the corporate. Fans paid hundreds for the lowest-priced tickets, and the average price was in the thousands.
The next World Cup is set to be hosted by six countries across three continents, with calls for an expanded 64 countries involved. We’ll leave this there without comment.
Without even pausing for a break after the end of the World Cup, FIFA went on to announce on the 28th July 2026 that it was seeking private investment of up to 20% into a new unit that would run all FIFA events, including the World Cup. Who knows what this could lead to in terms of future tournaments and the lack of control over the decision-making process on hosts, ticketing prices, etc.
Without a consultation process that included the member associations, FIFA dropped the statement offering each association £30 million if they backed the proposal for private investment.
It wasn’t long before the confederations spoke out. All 55 members of UEFA warned that Europe would boycott the World Cup if the plan went ahead. Support was lacking from other confederations too with CONCAFAC and AFC expressing concern. It all stems from greed and the cult of personality that Infantino has built over the past decade. It seems he underestimated the rest of the world, knowing that UEFA would probably go against him.
Now, by the 1st August 2026, not only has the plan been scrapped, but there are calls for a vote of no-confidence in Infantino. In just a few short days he’s gone from being unopposed in the next cycle of FIFA presidential elections to now being asked to resign or go up against a candidate that almost all FIFA member associations will back.
Football is for the people. FIFA is a non-profit organisation. How did it come to this? The greed of Infantino has hopefully caught up with him, and his links with Trump tarred him with the same shit that anything else Trump touches turns to. Here’s to a fresh beginning and a push towards a governing body that genuinely cares about the growth of the sport around the world, and for all areas of the game, not just the elite game for the men.
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