Future FIFA tournaments remain in jeopardy as UEFA has reaffirmed its vow to boycott all FIFA tournaments as long as Gianni Infantino remains as President of FIFA. FIFA has 27 days until the women's U20 World Cup kicks off, but will Infantino ever resign... and how did we get here?
Corruption, blackmail, jealousy, and greed: these are just a few of the allegations that the press, football fans and politicians have named against FIFA President Gianni Infantino during an unprecedented, historic fortnight of controversy. Although Infantino did withdraw his controversial policies, it has been eye-opening to see the direction in which the FIFA President has taken global football.
'The beautiful game' has been bloodied by bad governance, sour politicians and corruption once more, where big tournaments are threatened, and all fans can do is watch. Infantino is now facing potential ouster in FIFA's presidential election in March. Before this week, it was widely assumed that he would be re-elected unopposed after the broad success of the 2026 World Cup, but now the outcome of the upcoming elections is a complete unknown.
How does FIFA work?
FIFA is the governing body of world football. It makes most of its money from the men's World Cup through sponsors, tickets, etc., and its revenue is massive: making $15bn from this last World Cup cycle. It comprises 950 full-time staff and 5,100 temporary staff during major tournaments - so it is a huge machine.
Since becoming President in 2016, Infantino restored faith in FIFA again. He established a three-term limit for FIFA Presidents (which he has since abolished), and expanded the 2026 World Cup from 32 to 48 teams. As well as making more money, this allowed for more countries, such as Cape Verde, to have the opportunity to compete and do well. Infantino almost doubled the income from the 2022 Qatar to the 2026 North America cycle, driving FIFA's total revenues from $7.6bn to $15 bn. FIFA pledges to redistribute the money it makes back into football, through men's, women's and youth programmes.
FIFA is controlled by the FIFA Congress, which meets annually and is made up of 211 national member federations, that each have one vote that carries the same weight no matter the member. Therefore, smaller nations, who could be swayed by financial incentives, have as much power to sway elections as bigger countries, who already have enough investment. Under this is the elected 37-member FIFA Council who manage FIFA in between the annual Congress meetings.
FIFA is registered as a non-profit organisation under Swiss law, and at each tournament aims for tax-exempt status to maximise income. Infantino has become one of the most powerful leaders in FIFA history through making connections with the biggest politicians and leaders in the world. However, the political bleedthrough in this tournament has been undeniable, from Trump overturning Balogun's red card to Spain having to edit him out of their podium photos.
The letter Infantino sent to the 211 FIFA Congress members was revealed on the 28th of July, barely two weeks after the men's World Cup concluded. International football will never be the same again.
Infantino's FFE and FFFP
Infantino wanted to create a $20bn subsidiary, named the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cups with private investors, and sell a 20-21% minority stake in the men's and women's World Cups and Club World Cups to these investors in a bid to 'expand football development', 'bringing together FIFA's commercial rights', to tame 'uncaptured commercial value' as part of the 'natural next step' for FIFA.
This plan would raise an extra $4.2bn this year. Alongside FFE, Infantino planned to launch the FIFA Fast Forward Programme (FFFP), under which all 211 members would have access to up to $20m a year in funding (projected to increase per cycle), compared to the current $8m. This deal was allegedly done in private without the FIFA Council's approval. Infantino gave Congress members until the 19th of September to be eligible for their payment, or face a 75 per cent reduction in potential funding. Despite the urgency for a solution for the women's game, women's football was not mentioned once in the document.
Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital was named a prospective investor. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to U.S. president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka. Trump has denied all knowledge of Infantino's plans, despite his close relationship with Infantino and their family ties. Infantino maintains that 'FIFA obviously continues to govern football without any external interference'.
This has sparked widespread upset, with Infantino being accused of selling football.
UEFA boycott set ahead of women's U20 World Cup
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) mobilised by the 30th of July for a 55-0 vote in response and unanimously rejected it, promising to boycott all future FIFA tournaments in protest, the next of which is the women's U20s, due to kick off on the 5th of September.
The rest of the world followed suit: CONCACAF (which runs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), along with UEFA, have been the three confederations to reject Infantino's plan before it was scrapped. African CAF, South American CONMEBOL, Argentina, and the Mexico Football Federation (despite being members of CONCACAF) have all reaffirmed support for Infantino.
Infantino abandoned FFE and FFFP on 1st of August. However, future tournaments are not safe yet - UEFA has confirmed that the boycott threat remains whilst Infantino is still in his presidency. There are now only 26 days until the U20s World Cup kicks off in Poland - the clock is ticking. Lioness legend Lucy Bronze has expressed support for UEFA's boycott even though it puts England's Lionesses' participation in the Brazil 2027 World Cup at risk.
There are rumours of Infantino attempting to blackmail Jordan and the African bloc into voting for him in the next presidential elections. It has been reported that Infantino attempted to secure the African voting bloc (54 votes) by offering Morocco the hosting rights to the 2030 World Cup Final, allegedly bypassing the FIFA Council. The African CAF have since come out in support of Infantino.
Politics, power and corruption have returned to FIFA.
Jealousy, jealousy
Sky News' sports correspondent Rob Harris suggested in an interview that Infantino's bid for increased revenue is an act of jealousy of the Premier League's superior turnover. FIFA's annual (not its total World Cup-cycle revenue) revenue is currently $3.5 billion compared to the Premier League, whose is a staggering $9.1 billion, according to Sky News. Of course, comparing an annual tournament to one that takes place every four years is illogical, but Infantino maintains that 'as other sports leagues capture more revenue, investment for global football development gets squeezed'. England's FA was one of the first to denounce Infantino, with Prime Minister Andrew Burnham voicing personal outrage.
Many senior members of FIFA have heavily criticised Infantino, including his own Secretary General Mattias Grafström, his senior advisor Carlos Cardeiro who resigned in protest, and Arsenal men's manager Arsène Wenger who called out Infantino's plans as 'absolutely unnecessary and beyond question'.
Following the backlash, on the 5th of August a letter was released by the FIFA Council signed by Infantino and his General Secretary, showing internal support for Infantino, defending their integrity and apologising for their mistakes. This letter was produced after an emergency meeting took place in Morocco, and FIFA has been criticised for not hosting it in Switzerland, where FIFA's HQ is located. Several key members were not in attendance at these talks that preceded the release of this letter, notably:
- Arsène Wenger - Arsenal Manager and Chief Football Officer
- Sarai Bareman - Women's Football Officer
- Kevin Lamour - Chief Operating Officer (who spoke out demanding the sack of Infantino)
Thus, not the entire management board backed this letter that claimed that FIFA would no longer tolerate 'attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation'.
On 8th of August FIFA released another statement addressing 'a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine' the governing body and president Infantino.
This is not over yet
On the 10th August, UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC sent a joint letter of complaint to FIFA without naming Infantino, referring to a leader who 'abandoned their duty' by breaking trust 'through deception', calling out FIFA's apology letter as 'a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve'.
Infantino has survived by the skin of his teeth, and is currently still up for re-election. UEFA may put up a rival candidate. Possible candidates include:
- Victor Montagliani - President of CONCACAF and FIFA Vice President
- Aleksander Čeferin - President of UEFA
- Nasser Al-Khelaifi - Chairman of beIN Media Group and Qatar Sports Investments
So the FIFA Forward Enterprise is gone, but the abusers of power remain. UEFA has pledged not to rest until Infantino is ousted. All eyes are on the FIFA elections next March. Who will rescue FIFA?
Featured Image: Instagram /Se Futbol
