Can the beautiful game get any uglier? Apparently yes, as long as FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino is in charge. The reports that he wants to sell shares in a $20 billion World Cup spin-off venture linked to Donald Trump have been met with outrage around the world.
UEFA, European football’s governing body, has said it will “kill it” and that the plans “cross a line”.
“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
While it’s reassuring to hear such strong language, the problem is that Infantino has crossed a fair few lines already. The decision to reverse the ban on American striker Folarin Balogun for his red card during the World Cup following intervention from Mr Trump was a pretty big line. Then there’s the “hydration” – sorry, commercial – breaks during the World Cup, and the absurd half-time show which was a gift to advertisers.
What about the scandalous prices of World Cup tickets and the sales tactics that are being investigated by prosecutors in the US? Or how about the made-up FIFA “Peace Prize”, created with the apparent intention of soothing the ego of one Donald J Trump because he didn’t get a Nobel Peace Prize. Everywhere you look, Infantino places the interests of himself and other grifters like the US President above those of fans and the game itself.
So yes, this new fund is outrageous, but it is the logical next step for a man who had the gall to sell the turf from the stadium where the World Cup final took place, with pieces costing up to $3,000. The plan is nauseatingly familiar to anyone who covers the Trump beat, right down to some of the same figures from his do-nothing Board of Peace, which is supposed to be rebuilding Gaza.
Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist and brother of the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will lead the search for investors for FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would raise hundreds of millions of dollars by hawking the commercial rights of the men’s and women’s World Cups.
Madonna performed with Brazilian icons Ronaldo and Ronaldinho during the World Cup final half-time show (Photo: Reuters)According to Infantino, the commercial side of the game would now be a “focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world”. Poppycock. Let’s call it what it is: a slush fund for Infantino and his cronies to enrich themselves and give themselves even more power.
What’s to stop countries keen to sportwash their image from investing in FFE to win favour with FIFA? And what’s to stop those paymasters from demanding that the tournament happens at a different time of year, causing chaos to domestic leagues?
Under the plan, FIFA would increase its funding to each of the national associations from $8 million to $20 million – a significant amount of money. But the real purpose is about making Infantino even more of an emperor whose hand nations will have to kiss if they want access to the game.
According to The Times, which first reported the story, Infantino himself would earn tens of millions of dollars from the venture. That’s why he is doing it: to make himself rich. The only thing standing in Infantino’s way is a sense of shame – good luck with that! – and opposition from within the game.
FIFA has tried this before and in 2018 there were talks about a $25 billion deal with Japanese bank SoftBank, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The arrangement would have started a new Club World Cup and a global Nations League but it was shunned and didn’t materialise.
This time the danger is more pressing because the person leading the charge has no sense of duty to the game beyond his own pocket.
Infantino is due to stand for re-election as FIFA President next year, and if he wins, he will be in charge until 2031 when he will be forced to finally step down. Unbelievably, he will reportedly stand unopposed, meaning that it is up to individual nations to stop his latest assault on the game.
FIFA simply has to figure out a way to get him out of the game – before football is sold to the highest bidder.
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