Gianni Infantino’s FIFA presidency faces first major threat after investor plan collapse

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is facing the biggest challenge to his position since taking office after a controversial plan to bring private investment into the organisation’s tournaments was abandoned within days of being announced.

The FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, widely regarded as Infantino’s personal project, was unveiled last Tuesday and was intended to attract private money into competitions including the men’s and women’s World Cups. Following widespread criticism, the plan had been dropped by Saturday.

The collapse has damaged the image of an administrator who had appeared increasingly able to overcome opposition while expanding both the Club World Cup and World Cup.

Infantino’s position had seemed particularly strong after the latest World Cup final, when he walked on to the pitch alongside his close friend, United States President Donald Trump. The 56-year-old, who holds Swiss, Italian and Lebanese citizenship, had reached the high point of his influence.

The tournament, the largest and most complex edition of football’s premier competition, involved 48 teams and was staged across three countries. Despite several controversies away from the pitch, it was broadly viewed as a success.

Infantino had also increased the money available to FIFA’s 211 member associations, the organisations that ultimately elect the president.

The son of Italian migrants, Infantino once said he had been bullied as a child in Switzerland because of his red hair and freckles. He has generally kept a lower media profile than his predecessor, Sepp Blatter.

His account of that childhood experience came while he was defending Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup, against criticism of its human rights record.

“I am not an Arab, I am not African, I am not gay, I am not disabled,” he said.

“But I feel like it, because I know what it means to be discriminated against as a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child I was bullied -– because I had red hair and freckles.”

Infantino, a lawyer, was first elected FIFA president in 2016 and was returned unopposed in 2019 and again in 2023. In recent years, however, opponents have accused him of turning FIFA into an autocracy.

For his critics, the FFE episode was a clear example of that approach. The initiative was announced without appearing to have secured broad support and was withdrawn only days later.

Former UEFA president Michel Platini, under whom Infantino worked as secretary-general from 2009, has been among his most persistent critics.

“Unfortunately Infantino has become more of an autocrat since the (Covid) pandemic,” Platini told English newspaperThe Guardianin January.

“I think he lost the game. There is less democracy than in Blatter’s time,” added the 71-year-old Frenchman, who was banned from football in 2015 over a payment he received from FIFA in 2011.

Platini has since been cleared in a Swiss court and has continued to portray Infantino in an unfavourable way.

“He was a good No. 2, but is not a good No. 1,” said Platini.

“He worked very well at UEFA but he has one problem: he likes the rich and powerful people, the ones with money.

“It’s his character.”

Infantino’s relationship with Trump has also attracted scrutiny. He awarded the US president the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, a decision that was widely ridiculed.

Another contentious incident at the World Cup involved United States striker Folarin Balogun. His one-match suspension was put on hold after a phone call from Trump, allowing him to play against Belgium in the last 16.

The proposed involvement of a company owned by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, added to the perception that Infantino was seeking close relationships with influential figures.

“Josh Kushner’s firm has a legitimate track record,” Terrence Burns, a brand marketing strategist for two successful World Cup host bids, told AFP.

“But the association was always going to be read politically, in a year when Infantino’s proximity to the White House was already the subject of formal ethics complaints, and after a red card review a good many federations regarded as a red line.

“We’ve understood in sponsorship for 40 years that a partner brings their whole context with them, and the diligence question isn’t ‘Is this money clean?’ but ‘What will this money be understood to mean?’

“That test was either not run, not believed, or not cared about.”

After the investor proposal collapsed, Infantino said his priority would be to rebuild unity within football.

“Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together… in the spirit of shared interest in our game,” he said.

“And with the objective to continue growing football everywhere.”

Infantino’s future will be tested at the FIFA presidential election in Rabat next March. Nominations for the vote close on 18 November.