Courting controversy and befriending Trump – Fifa’s ‘unlikely saviour’

It is 10 years since Gianni Infantino was elected Fifa president, with a remit to rescue football’s world governing body.

The decade since has been one of reform, expansion and, more recently, controversy.

Infantino was installed with Fifa engulfed by claims of widespread corruption and after predecessor Sepp Blatter had resigned.

Fifa’s finances were in a desperate state. There was a reported $550m (£392m) black hole after sponsors walked away.

In Infantino, the game felt it had found a safe pair of hands.

“I will work tirelessly to bring football back to Fifa, and Fifa back to football,” Infantino said.

Ten years on, there can be no doubt the governing body is in rude health. It expects to report record revenues of $13bn (£9.6bn) for the three-year cycle through to the end of this year.

But those figures only tell part of the story.

They are boosted by the controversial Club World Cup, and the biggest-ever World Cup with its high ticket prices.

Infantino has clashed with players’ unions and European football, but he remains in an impregnable position at the top of the world game.

It is easy to forget Blatter’s successor as Fifa president was supposed to be Michel Platini.

But after Platini was drawn into the scandal at the organisation – both he and Blatter were later fully cleared of corruption charges – Infantino was thrust forward as Uefa’s preferred candidate.

As the general secretary of European football’s governing body, Infantino had been the right-hand man of president Platini for seven years.

But he was an unlikely saviour – a man who was rarely in the consciousness of the average football fan.

To many he was just the guy who presented Champions League draws.

Ten years on, you would be hard pressed to find a football fan who does not recognise him.

Turning Fifa around was no small task.

The US Department of Justice had indicted a large number of top executives and it needed root-and-branch reform.

Two pages of Infantino’s manifesto were devoted to more than doubling development money for member associations.

That would be for new competitions, for infrastructure, and even to cover travel costs for smaller nations.

Expanding the World Cup was also included, though to 40 teams. Within a year it had been rubberstamped as a 48-team tournament.

The election was a close-run thing.

In the first round of votes, Infantino led Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa – president of the Asian confederation – by 88 votes to 85.

Infantino only moved clear when the 34 votes originally cast for Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and French executive Jerome Champagne were reallocated.

The final score was 115 votes to 88.

“This is a new day, a new dawn,” said then Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, welcoming Infantino’s win. “He is not a politician and he is not an ego.”

Infantino, meanwhile, declared he would “restore the image of Fifa”.

“It’s your money, not the money of the Fifa president,” Infantino told delegates. “The money of Fifa has to be used to develop football.”

The controversial World Cups of 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar were waiting in Infantino’s in-tray.

Voting for the tournaments had been shrouded in controversy with claims of collusion and deals, but the deeds were already done.

In his early years as president, Infantino kept a fairly low profile. It was only when the World Cup rolled into Qatar that he started to become a more public figure.

Under pressure amid repeated criticisms about workers’ rights and claims of modern slavery in the country, Infantino hit back.

He first called out “hypocrisy” and “racism” about Qatar in the European media, then made his infamous speech about discrimination.

“Today I feel Qatari,” he said. “Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.”

At every game he attended, TV cameras appeared to pick him out in the crowd.

After the Qatar World Cup, Infantino made many more headlines – from hosting plans and new tournaments to disparaging remarks about the behaviour of England fans.

Infantino had promised an expanded, summer Club World Cup shortly after his election in 2016.

The plan hit several delays but – two days before the 2022 World Cup final – Fifa eventually announced it would go ahead in 2025, hosted by the United States.

It placed a large-scale tournament in a summer which was usually reserved for player recovery.

Fifa rejected claims players’ union’ Fifpro and the World Leagues’ Association were not consulted.

Then came the unique allocation of the 2030 and 2034 World Cup finals.

It was decided the 2030 edition would be staged across three continents – Africa, Europe and South America. That meant the 2034 event had to go to Asia or Oceania.

With no realistic competition, it effectively guaranteed Saudi Arabia – another country with questions about its human rights record – would host.

Saudi Arabia and Fifa, under Infantino, had developed a close relationship.

Norway’s football federation abstained from the process and argued the bidding process undermined “Fifa’s reforms for good governance” and challenged “trust in Fifa”.

In May 2024, it was revealed Infantino received a 33% pay rise upon his re-election the previous year.

It took his base salary from 1.95m Swiss francs (£1.7m) in 2022 to 2.6m Swiss francs (£2.3m).

On top of that, he was due a bonus of 1,650,000 Swiss francs (£1.5m), which was unchanged.

Infantino, who was earning about £1.3m when first elected in 2016, is now close to Blatter’s final annual salary payment of £2.6m.

However, a Fifa investigation showed that under Blatter leading executives were being paid huge bonuses running well into the millions.

In November 2024, with the new-look Club World Cup drawing closer, Fifa unveiled the trophy – engraved with a personal tribute.

Uefa was growing frustrated with Infantino’s profile and his close relationship with US President Donald Trump.

It came to a head in May 2025. Infantino had been on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East with Trump and turned up two hours late for the Fifa Congress.

Uefa accused Infantino of prioritising “private political interests” and staged a walk-out.

Then came last summer’s Club World Cup, which was characterised by stadiums with swathes of empty seats.

Yet when Infantino gathered the media at Trump Tower, he declared it to be “already the most successful club competition in the world”.

In December, the draw for this summer’s World Cup was a long, lavish and outlandish affair.

Infantino was front and centre, and Trump was awarded the controversial Fifa Peace Prize.

Within a week came the announcement of high ticket prices for the finals.

Group-stage tickets are up to three times the price of those for the 2022 World Cup, and the cheapest ticket for the final in New Jersey is £3,119.

After a minor climbdown, Infantino defended the prices and said they reflected the public’s “absolutely crazy” demand.

Infantino insisted all the money would go back into the game, saying “without Fifa there would be no football in 150 countries”.

He still had one more media mis-step to go before reaching his 10-year anniversary.

Despite the controversies, one fact remains: there is no meaningful opposition to Infantino.

While the 55-year-old may face criticism in Europe, for the rest of the world he has made a clear difference. Yes, it is about money. But money for football.

He has enriched some of the poorest and smallest footballing nations, proving funding through infrastructure and development.

Infantino has been true to his word that Fifa would be transparent – publishing the salaries of all top executives and keeping funds within football.

The Swiss delivered on his initial promise of an extra $5m (£3.7m) for every national association over the first four years, and $40m (£29.7m) for each confederation.

Across the first two cycles of the Fifa Forward project through to 2022, $2.8bn (£2.08bn) was made available for investment across the 211 member associations on more than 1,600 projects.

Fifa Forward 3.0 – covering the years 2023 through to 2026 – has produced a 30% increase in funding.

Infantino has provided a further $5m (£3.7m) for every member association, with another $60m (£44.48m) paid to each confederation for their own projects.

After being re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, he is approaching another election year in 2027.

Infantino will be able to stand again, even though Fifa statues limit the president to a maximum of three terms.

In 2022 the governance, audit and compliance committee ruled his first term did not count, as it was only for three years.

With the way Infantino has improved the financial situation of so many associations, it is hard to see how anyone could realistically challenge him in 2027.

Almost half of the 2011 votes are held by Asia and Africa – two regions that have benefited from the hugely increased finances.

Infantino may be criticised for the way he has expanded the Club World Cup, and the World Cup, and the increased ticket prices.

But he sees it as a vehicle to increase investment in the game around the world.