Arsene Wenger’s FIFA position questioned after Infantino’s failed World Cup proposal

Arsene Wenger’s decision to remain silent over Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell the World Cup has raised questions about the former Arsenal manager’s relationship with the FIFA president, according to The Telegraph.

Wenger was once a prominent critic of the corrupting influence of money on football. However, his silence over the controversial proposal appears difficult to reconcile with the views he expressed during his managerial career.

Senior advisers, chief operating officers and even United States President Donald Trump have distanced themselves to varying degrees from the embattled Swiss official, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. Wenger’s position, by contrast, remains unclear.

The 76-year-old is not obliged to publicly criticise his superior, and he is undoubtedly recovering from a demanding World Cup schedule. But the subject at the centre of the controversy is closely connected to Wenger’s professional expertise.

Whether fair or not, people observing the situation from outside are likely to associate Wenger’s FIFA role with the nature of the failed plan. They may also question how closely involved he was in its development.

Silence does not, of course, prove that Wenger was complicit. Yet his continued presence alongside Infantino gives the FIFA president a degree of legitimacy, The Telegraph argued.

That association dates back to November 2019, when FIFA announced Wenger’s appointment with an image of the two men shaking hands and smiling at the camera. Since then, Wenger has remained a visible figure within Infantino’s FIFA administration.

When Infantino marked 10 years as FIFA president, Wenger praised him by saying he was “always ready to move forward and create new ideas”. During the World Cup, Wenger was frequently seen sitting behind Infantino at matches or shaking hands with him in the stands.

For supporters who treated Wenger as a revered figure during his time at Arsenal, his links with FIFA in recent years have been uncomfortable. The association has become even more difficult to accept as criticism of Infantino’s presidency has intensified and his leadership has reached what The Telegraph described as new levels of toxicity.

Wenger had been portrayed by many admirers as a moral compass and a devoted protector of football. His close relationship with Infantino now links him with people seeking to reshape the sport permanently in pursuit of financial gain, the newspaper said.

The failed World Cup proposal has therefore placed Wenger in an increasingly awkward position. His public silence may be interpreted as loyalty to Infantino, even though it does not establish that he supported the plan or played a role in it.

The question now is whether Wenger will remain on Infantino’s side or make clear that the proposal went further than it should have. The Telegraph concluded that much of Wenger’s reputation, already damaged in the eyes of some observers by his relationship with Infantino, could depend on which direction he chooses.