Gianni Infantino received a new term – Sport – Kommersant

Gianni Infantino has been re-elected President of the International Football Federation (FIFA) for another four-year term without alternative. Mr. Infantino, who seven years ago led world football by the will of circumstances – due to the corruption crisis that shook him, but turned into a heavyweight in sports politics, was helped, first of all, by commercial success – the constantly increasing income of FIFA. True, the desire to make another financial breakthrough through a radical reformatting of top tournaments seems to lead to an acute conflict between Gianni Infantino and the leading leagues and clubs.

In the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, the congress of the International Football Federation was held, at which the election of its president was held. There was no intrigue in them. Gianni Infantino took over FIFA in 2016 young (he was only 45 years old) and not a very prominent functionary due to circumstances alone. World football has just been rocked by a massive corruption crisis, and nearly every heavyweight executive has fallen victim to it, including Mr. Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter. Meanwhile, quite quickly Gianni Infantino from an “intermediate” figure, an anti-crisis manager, himself managed to turn into a heavyweight. This time, as in the previous one, in 2019, he was re-elected on a non-alternative basis.

What allowed the Swiss to get such a huge credit of trust is understandable.

In his speech to Congress delegates, it was no coincidence that he focused on commercial achievements, jokingly: if the CEO of the company told shareholders that the cost of its products had increased seven times, they would keep him in office for life.

Gianni Infantino, first of all, had in mind, probably, relying on the national football associations belonging to FIFA 211, whose presidents make up the electorate of Mr. Infantino, annual payments from the structure. At the end of Sepp Blatter’s reign, they amounted to a modest $250 thousand, now they have reached $2 million.

This trend, which is pleasant for many officials, was ensured by the growth in income of FIFA itself. Its receipts for the previous four-year cycle, crowned by the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year, amounted to $ 7.6 billion. But even this figure seems insufficient to Gianni Infantino.

In fact, all the most significant provisions of his new program were presented in advance, when FIFA announced the reforms of its biggest tournaments. In the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, instead of 32 teams, 48 ​​teams will perform, and the tournament format provides for as many as 104 meetings – 40 more than were played in Qatar. In addition, the club world championship has been reformed. From a chamber competition, it is transformed into an event of a gigantic scale. In the debut of the reformatted World Club Championship in 2025, not 7, as now, but 32 teams will take part. Innovations, according to FIFA’s plan, should serve as a driver for further revenue growth. Moreover, a radical increase – up to $11 billion per cycle.

But with these plans of Gianni Infantino, a very real intrigue is just connected. The fact is that further compaction of the already tough calendar by stretching the two world championships has already caused a flurry of criticism from various football trade union organizations, including the parent one – the International Association of Professional Football Players.

All of them consider the loads offered by FIFA to the players to be excessive, causing concern for their health and ability to keep fit.

But it is already obvious that the unions in the fight against Gianni Infantino have many supporters in another part of the football community. Thus, the reform of the format of the World Cup forced the release of an extremely harsh statement in terms of rhetoric, La Liga, which unites the elite Spanish clubs. It says that FIFA, by its actions, demonstrates “total disrespect for the national championships”, and also “ignores the economic damage” that they can cause to “leagues around the world.” Solidarity with La Liga was expressed by the Association of European Leagues, which unites the championships of more than 30 countries, including England, Germany, France and Italy. She also predicted a “huge negative effect” from FIFA’s decisions on “domestic leagues, most teams, players and fans”.

During the last term of Gianni Infantino, an acute crisis has already arisen, connected precisely with the top clubs and their attitude to the strategy of the international football authorities. True, they opposed not FIFA, but the Union of European Football Associations, trying to create their own super league in the spring of 2021, but failing. It seems that now the attacks from the giants, who are constantly losing stars due to injuries that do not withstand the schedule invented by FIFA, will have to face Mr. Infantino.

Alexey Dospekhov