Infantile Infantino should exit for trying to sell the World Cup, by Owei Lakemfa

Gianni Infantino, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, FIFA President who stole into office about a dozen years ago on the back of a coup against Sepp Blatter, may be on his way out. He has become like an orphan caught with his hand in the till. The 2026 World Cup had been quite successful. It has also been a commercial success, with FIFA raking in a record revenue of $13 billion to $15 billion. The World Cup, which had thirteen teams at inception, has expanded to a record 48 teams and a total of 104 matches. This has led to high-volume ticket sales. Broadcasting rights alone in 2026 generated about $4.2 billion. Sponsorship and hospitality added to the income.

Admittedly, FIFA’s costs also went up. For instance, a higher $871 million was allocated to the teams, including a $655 million base prize. The champions, Spain, had $51 million; runners-up, $34 million; and third place, $30 million. Also, holding the competition in three venues-the United States, Mexico and Canada-increased the logistical overhead. But, overall, it has been a hugely successful tournament.

However, as the world celebrated and discussed the games, the Infantino leadership decided to take advantage of the euphoria by sneaking in a partial privatization package.

As it turned out, without consultations with the regional bodies, the leadership created a commercial subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise with which it was going to sell a 20-30 percent stake in World Cup commercial rights to private investors led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump son-in-law Jared. Infantino said the plan was to raise a minimum of $20 billion. In reality, the Infantino gang tried to commercialize the soul of football, a unifying force of humanity. He had dangled a $40m award for every association that voted for his plans, promising that an advance $30m would be made available to each of the federations by January 1, 2027.

However, an immediate rejection came from the Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, the umbrella body of 55 members of FIFA’s total 211. The region also runs the world’s most lucrative league.

UEFA declared the attempted privatization of the World Cup unacceptable and a line that football’s governing institutions must not cross. It added that: “UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every national football association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game. The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially.”

To underscore the seriousness with which it is handling the matter, UEFA sent FIFA a preservation letter. It demanded that the world body preserve all evidence, as this may turn out to be a lawsuit.

The UEFA knockout punch was its decision to boycott FIFA if the Infantino team went ahead with its greedy plans. The implication of such a boycott is that FIFA may be split and Europe can hold a parallel World Cup with teams that ally with it. The North American confederation CONCACAF also joined UEFA in rejecting the FIFA plan.

Equally, the Asian Football Confederation, AFC, declared it stands in solidarity with UEFA and CONCACAF, describing the FIFA leader’s actions as “totally unacceptable.” However, the Confederation of African Football, CAF, did not take a concrete position on the matter, preferring to keep the door open, which is an indirect endorsement of the plan.

However, things began to crumble around Infantino. Some officials of FIFA distanced themselves. FIFA’s head of global football development and famous coach Arsene Wenger said he was “not aware” of the Infantino gambit.

In conceding defeat, Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström issued a joint statement after a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, stating: “We acknowledge mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). It was certainly not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and it should have been handled differently.” They followed with a clarification and a warning: “Furthermore, as already known, the proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table. With the project withdrawn, FIFA will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation.”

But the warning appeared to have had little effect. UEFA, looking beyond the FIFA statement, declared that although Infantino has beaten a retreat, this “must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.”

It implied that Infantino must fall. Equally, the AFC, looking beyond the Infantino backdown, demanded that FIFA’s future actions must be “shaped through proper consultation.” This is an indication that a post-Infantino FIFA era should commence. What the Infantino team tried to carry out was like a coup, and there are implications for a failed coup.

The options for Infantino’s welcome replacement include impeaching him. This will require a minimum of 41 member associations calling for an extraordinary congress where an impeachment motion would need a simple majority to pass.

A second alternative is for his case to be tabled at the FIFA Independent Ethics Committee, which is empowered to remove a FIFA president as was done to the immediate past president, Sepp Blatter.

Another issue of ethics Infantino faces is taking dictation from United States President Donald Trump, who personally called him to have the red card issued to USA striker Folarin Balogun at the 2026 World Cup overturned. Balogun was expected to miss the last-16 clash against Belgium after picking up a red card for an unsportsmanlike challenge on Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovi?. FIFA, in compliance with Trump’s political directive, suspended the ban, clearing Balogun to play against Belgium. The latter beat the USA 4-1 in the July 6 match.

Infantino had also been accused of removing two chairmen and all but two members of the Ethics Committee, which implied that he did not want the body to investigate corruption against the FIFA governing body. He was also accused of influencing the candidature of Ahmad Ahmad as CAF president. Another alternative way to replace Infantino is to wait until the March 18, 2027, 77th FIFA Congress scheduled to be held in Rabat, Morocco, where he can be voted out. FIFA was established on May 21, 1904, and the first World Cup was held in 1930, with Uruguay defeating Argentina 4-2 in the final to win the maiden edition. As it stands, Infantino is a danger to world football.

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