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'"King of Soccer" Gianni Infantino's plan to sell the soul of football could be final nail in FIFA coffin'

"Gianni Infantino is facing increasing pressure over his handling of the US tournament. FIFA claimed in its latest statement that its plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup 'was disrupted by incorrect media reports'"

The latest row over the sale of the World Cup may be the final nail in the coffin for the 'King of Soccer' Gianni Infantino.

The FIFA President is facing increasing pressure over his handling of the US tournament. FIFA claimed in its latest statement that its plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup "was disrupted by incorrect media reports".

But that cut no ice with the English FA, European nations and the Asian Football Confederation. It is yet another controversy on a long list for the Swiss born football chief.

Ironically, he was hailed as the organisation's saviour when he was appointed 10 years ago.

[Presidents]

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The FIFA President is facing increasing pressure over his handling of the US tournament and his relationship with President Donald Trump(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

Infantino's unlikely route to sporting power began in the small Swiss town of Brig, an Alpine transport hub for nearby ski resorts. As a ginger, freckle-faced youngster, he became president of his local amateur club, FC Brig-Glis, on the mandate that his mother would wash the team's kits. It was the shape of things to come. He is a pragmatist who 'likes to get things done,' according to football insiders.

And that means getting alongside everyone from President Putin - he collected a Russian Order of Friendship from him after the 2018 World Cup - to President Trump, who calls Infantino 'The King of Soccer'.

Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, Infantino is fluent in French, German, Italian, Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish. He added Lebanese citizenship to his passport collection under special rules for high-profile figures.

[The FIFA President Gianni Infantino with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office]

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The FIFA President Gianni Infantino with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

His wife and the mother of his four children, Lina al-Ashkar, is Lebanese.

His steady rise started at UEFA in 2000, where he worked in the legal department before becoming deputy general secretary in 2007 and then secretary general in 2009.

After Michel Platini was undone by scandal, Infantino, his former right hand man, was thrust forward for the role. He started his tenure with a low profile, flying to one early meeting on EasyJet.

At this summer's World Cup, he crisscrossed countries on a Qatar Airways private jet.

He pledged to rid football of its reputation for greed and corruption, while looking after UEFA's interests. UEFA backed Infantino with 438,000 to support his campaign.

Ten years on, few of his supporters in European football remain.

FIFA stressed: "Nobody is selling football. This is not something we would ever entertain." But the sky-high prices for the US tournament, Infantino's bizarre award of a 'peace prize' to Trump and now the links to Trump's family in the private investment World Cup plan may signal the end of his tenure. The plans to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors for $20m (15m) are hugely unpopular. Infantino claims it is about the democratisation of football worldwide. But the investor group for FFE would be led by Thrive Eternal.

It was founded earlier this year by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

That has already led to accusations from Democrat Congressman Jamie Raskin that FIFA is going into business with the Trump family.

[The FIFA HQ in Zurich]

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The FIFA HQ in Zurich(Image: Getty Images)

Infantino became Fifa president in 2016 when he beat Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa by 115 votes to 88. He was due to stand for a fourth term in March.

It had been anticipated he would be re-elected unopposed before the World Cup plan which critics claim 'sells the soul of football'.

Associations around the world had already confirmed their intention to support the 56-year-old. But Concacaf members are losing faith in Infantino.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, President of Champions League winners Paris St-Germain, is already being touted as his successor.

Former Uefa chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson told the BBC that Infantino has overplayed his hand and his position could be in trouble. When asked if Infantino should be removed from his role, Olsson said: "I think that should be a new start for football."

[Infantino]

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The FIFA President is facing increasing pressure over his handling of the US tournament(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Infantino opened the Qatar World Cup by saying: "Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker." A total of 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had reportedly died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid. Infantino added: "We have been taught many lessons by Europeans and the Western world. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons." Fans around the world criticised his speech. Plans to stage the 2030 World Cup across three continents - Africa, Europe and South America - and the 2034 tournament in Saudi Arabia attracted yet more controversy. 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, - determined by an independent committee - 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 an unchanged bonus of 1.65m Swiss francs (1.5m).

Infantino, who was earning about 1.3m when first elected in 2016, is now close to Blatter's final annual salary. Infantino handed Trump the controversial FIFA Peace Prize. Within a week came the announcement of high ticket prices for the finals. Then he had to apologise after saying it was "really special" no British nationals were arrested during the 2022 World Cup. His relationship with Trump was thrust into the spotlight when the US President asked FIFA to overturn Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension. USA forward Balogun was sent off during the last-32 tie against Bosnia-Herzegovina but was cleared to feature in the next round after an unprecedented intervention from Trump, which drew widespread criticism. Infantino has offered all 211 of FIFA's member associations $40m (30m) if they back his controversial plans to sell stakes in the organisation's major competitions - including the World Cup. 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 statutes limit the president to a maximum of three terms.

His future is on a knife edge though Asia and Africa, the two regions that have benefited from the hugely increased finances, hold almost half of the votes.

[Jeremy Armstrong]

Jeremy Armstrong

Jeremy is based in Newcastle upon Tyne and reports on the North east region for the Daily Mirror. He is also sports news correspondent and has worked around the world covering football World Cups, and Olympic Games, since 1998. Jeremy was sent to report on the war in Afghanistan in 2001, covered the 2009 trial of Josef Fritzl in Austria, the story of canoe man John Darwin, and the hunt for Raoul Moat. In 2020, he broke the scandal of Dominic Cummings breach of lockdown rules with the Mirror's former political editor Pippa Crerar, and Matthew Weaver of the Guardian. Last year he travelled to Israel to cover the war in Gaza.

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