In the high-stakes fight to keep his job, FIFA president Gianni Infantino began on the attack.
He had just overseen the most lucrative World Cup in history, which culminated one week prior with Spain’s victory over Argentina in the final. But the tournament had not been without its detractors, and Infantino felt a duty to put them in their place.
So, on a quiet, summer Sunday night, seemingly unprompted, the most powerful man in soccer shared a 15-post slideshow on Instagram. “To everyone who missed our beautiful game…sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all,” he wrote. “Maybe it’s time to show some love.”
This is how the president of football’s global governing body began the dramatic saga that would leave a stain on his leadership and reputation—and maybe even cost him his job.
Less than 48 hours after the post, Infantino became the target of overwhelming “hate and criticism” when his controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup leaked to the media.
The proposal for a $20 billion commercial engine called FIFA Forward Enterprise would seek $4.2 billion in outside capital, and reward FIFA’s 211 national soccer federations handsomely, promising each $40 million in the next World Cup cycle.
Soccer leaders across the globe gawked at FIFA’s rollout of the FFE plan. Only a very small group inside FIFA had any oversight, which led to public criticism from top executives. Outsiders blasted FIFA for keeping the plan from FIFA Council, the continental confederations, and member associations, then pressuring those national federations—and arguably bribing them with the $40 million—to accept it within a few weeks.
The doomed proposal didn’t survive the week. (It was Infantino’s second failed attempt at bringing outside investment into the World Cup.) FIFA has since publicly apologized for keeping stakeholders in the dark and for subsequent communications after the news broke. But the backlash against Infantino has continued.
Before FFE, the vast majority of FIFA’s member associations backed Infantino in the upcoming presidential election in March. Now, continental soccer bodies and national federations are dividing into pro- and anti-Infantino factions. Europe said it would boycott all FIFA tournaments until changes have been made. Even within the highest levels of FIFA, Infantino had to claw back the support of his top executives who had publicly criticized FFE.
Simmering Discontent
Infantino’s presidency has had plenty of detractors since it began in 2016.
His friendship with U.S. President Donald Trump has been a frequent point of concern for many soccer leaders, particularly this summer when U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card was overturned during the World Cup after Trump complained to Infantino. The treatment of migrant workers before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Infantino’s cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin around the 2018 World Cup in Russia also drew criticism.
Europe’s confederation, UEFA, has a particularly fraught relationship with Infantino’s FIFA, in no small part because the two are competitors. FIFA’s expanded $1 billion Club World Cup last summer was an attempt to rival UEFA’s Champions League. In 2021, UEFA said it would boycott all FIFA tournaments when FIFA proposed holding the World Cup every two years, which would have overlapped with UEFA’s European Championships.
Still, Infantino maintained a broad base of support because he increased cash flows and opportunities for smaller countries, including by expanding the World Cup to 48 teams. Each of the 211 member associations gets one vote, and the noise from a few powerful—often European—voices has never been loud enough to topple him. Then, FFE opened the floodgates.
What Comes Next
The big question critics now raise is whether a leader who pushed such a plan should be in charge of soccer’s global governing body.
At the continental level, the president of Africa’s confederation told Sky Sports on Wednesday that Infantino’s future should be decided at the spring election, in which he’s currently running unopposed. The South America confederation said it won’t support his quick ousting.
But the presidents of the other three largest confederations—representing Europe, North America, and Asia—published a letter on Monday blasting Infantino. “There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgement – not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve,” they wrote.
Federations, including U.S. Soccer, shared that letter and said they’re united in calling for “meaningful change” at FIFA. Other associations are directly endorsing or withdrawing support for Infantino. England, Finland, and Jordan pulled back, while Mexico, the UAE, and Lebanon doubled down. More than a dozen countries have lined up on each side of the debate.
But most member associations have not indicated which way they fall on Infantino. While one can assume allegiances based on how continental leaders have reacted, countries like Mexico and several in Asia that support Infantino demonstrate a willingness to break with their confederations.
Perhaps the most intriguing fight to watch will be in the Asian Football Confederation. Through lucrative sponsorship deals and hosting rights to soccer tournaments, Infantino has forged powerful alliances in the Gulf States. The UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait all issued their support in recent weeks. But AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who co-signed the letter against Infantino, is part of Bahrain’s royal family.
“There is a feeling in the Gulf that the ruling families stick together,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, the Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, tells Front Office Sports. “There’s a perception that the Gulf States have done very well and have a good relationship with Infantino, but one of their number is the head of a confederation that has openly called for him to go.”
Ulrichsen says the AFC, with its 46 FIFA member associations, has “two centers of gravity” between East Asia and the Gulf States. But a geographical divide doesn’t tell the whole story: Jordan came out strongly against Infantino, while Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bhutan are behind him. Given Asia is so far showing less of a united front than other continents, Ulrichsen says AFC countries “could swing the balance” in the war over Infantino’s job, and be granted significant power at the bargaining table.
Of course, a challenger still needs to run against Infantino in the election. The president of North America’s CONCACAF, Canadian Victor Montagliani, is widely expected to run, but he has not yet announced his intention to do so. It’s unlikely that more than one candidate will emerge, because that would split the votes against Infantino.
In the meantime, UEFA continued making jabs at FIFA this week through Omar Artan, the Somali referee who gained widespread attention after he was denied entry into the U.S. for the World Cup. The European body chose Artan to referee its Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa on Wednesday, and it posted about him prolifically on social media. Artan himself fanned the flames, writing, “This was my World Cup.”
Europe is prepared to fight, and so is the sport’s Swiss overlord. The battle for the future of FIFA has reached its boiling point: the past three weeks mark a decisive turn from an era where Infantino essentially had free rein over global soccer to something entirely different.
