Gianni Infantino: How the FIFA President's system works

Gianni Infantino travels extensively around the world. As president of FIFA, the world football governing body, he oversees 211 member associations. To ensure he can show up everywhere, the 55-year-old collects plenty of air miles. And sometimes things go wrong on Infantino's travels in the name of football.

A few weeks ago, such a mishap caused a scandal. Infantino was there "to represent football" when Donald Trump, US President and World Cup host in 2025 and 2026, visited Saudi Arabia (World Cup host in 2034) and Qatar (World Cup host in 2022). However, this trip meant that his travel time to the FIFA Congress, the highest level of world football, in Paraguay's capital, Asunción, was too short. A missed connecting flight on the African continent meant that the meeting of the world's highest-ranking football officials could not attend without the boss. had to begin.

When he finally showed up, he started talking as if nothing had happened. And he didn't care—at least without showing it—that the European delegates didn't return to their seats in the meeting room after a coffee break in protest.

Gianni Infantino is not only the most powerful person in world football by virtue of his office, he is also the most controversial – and before the kickoff of his pet project, the Club World Cup, he is once again in the spotlight: as in his unopposed re-elections in 2019 and 2023, or as in his quote before the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, which was probably intended to sound unifying, but was perceived as megalomaniacal and disrespectful: "Today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arab, today I feel African. Today I feel homosexual. Today I feel disabled, today I feel like a migrant worker."

This weekend, the Club World Cup kicks off, a competition with which Infantino is once again taking a big leap of faith. The 32 supposedly best teams in the world will meet in the USA. FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have qualified from Germany. Many football fans shudder at the thought of club names like Fluminense from Brazil or River Plate from Argentina, which they rarely see otherwise. In a month, the club world champions will be crowned after 63 matches. The spectacle is set to be repeated every four years.

With the Club World Cup, FIFA is competing with the competitions of the continental confederations. In five parts, RND examines the competition and the host nation, the United States, which will dominate the sports world in the coming years under President Trump.

A total of one billion dollars in entry fees and prize money are on offer, so even the protagonists are turning to the tournament, which legendary coach Jürgen Klopp has called "useless." "This is the closest thing you'll get to a World Cup with your national team—simply because you're competing against teams from different countries with different football cultures," said Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany after the German record champions arrived at the team's headquarters in Orlando, Florida.

This World Cup promises great football between clubs with well-known names that would otherwise not have the opportunity to compete against each other in competitive matches.

At the same time, this World Cup is even more of a factor for critics who accuse Infantino's FIFA of losing all sense of proportion in its attempt to make money for football. And then there are the many additional matches. The top players are already well beyond their physical limits. And then, to top it off, parts of this World Cup are being played parallel to the Women's European Championship. There's a risk of cannibalization, even though FIFA, under Infantino, has specifically targeted the development of women's football.

The next question is how much football the planet can tolerate before oversaturation sets in. "It's no longer fun. And next year is the next World Cup. Who's going to watch all that?" asks Carsten Ramelow, former national team player and now president of the German Football Players' Union (VDV).

Theo Zwanziger, former president of the German Football Association, spoke of "entertainment and circus" in the podcast "Calcio d'Oro" with regard to the Club World Cup. "If they want to make money from football, my wish would be for them to simply drop the ethical cloak they always wrap themselves around. They should simply say, we make football, and that's big business these days," the 80-year-old continued.

Infantino, for his part, makes no secret of the fact that his FIFA system is geared toward making and distributing money. What Zwanziger calls an "ethical cloak," the FIFA boss calls "investment in football development." And similar to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), all FIFA member associations have exactly one vote in the presidential election, regardless of their size. If Infantino promises the member associations an increase in FIFA subsidies to $5 million per budget cycle as part of his "Forward" program—as happened before his first election in 2016—this will benefit the DFB, with its 7.7 million members, to the same extent as any of the 210 national associations.

Subsidies that many are happy to accept: "They understand us and sit down with us. And then they offer help. The support is better tailored to the needs of the associations," said the association president of the Caribbean island of Aruba in a Deutschlandfunk podcast. His association is 90 percent dependent on FIFA funding.

Resistance to the Infantino system, which replaced the corruption-ridden network of his predecessor Sepp Blatter, is therefore only being felt by Europeans concerned about their supremacy. Both of Infantino's re-elections were by acclamation. The delegates' applause was sufficient, even though the DFB, among a few other associations, recently refused to give it.

In other words: The 55-year-old, who grew up in the Swiss Valais as the son of Italian immigrants, doesn't need the votes of his critics in the football bubble. What he needs to secure his power base is ever-increasing money and the hope of many football-loving nations to one day make it to one of the world's most prestigious tournaments. So he's not only inventing new competitions like the Club World Cup, but also expanding the men's World Cup of Nations from 32 to 48 teams starting in 2026, and the women's equivalent from 2031.

“I think it is absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president”: Infantino (right) at the 2018 World Cup with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: Yuri Kadobnov/POOL AFP/AP/dpa

Infantino's love of football is undisputed. This was evident in Leipzig in January at the gala celebrating the 125th anniversary of the German Football Association (DFB): After years of tension, the relationship between Infantino and the DFB had improved to such an extent that the FIFA boss came to Saxony to congratulate him. His off-the-cuff enthusiasm suggested an almost romantic relationship with the game. With a dreamy look and enthusiasm in his voice, he listed the names of stars and protagonists from the history of the Bundesliga and the German national team. Within FIFA, the boss is considered a walking football encyclopedia, knowing and recognizing all current and former stars. His passion goes so far that he even watches German third-division matches on television.

On the other hand, Infantino, on his expansion course, first moved the 2030 World Cup to six countries on three continents, only to then award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia. The motto: a little bit of World Cup glory for everyone. The award to Saudi Arabia, in turn, came after it was revealed that a Saudi sovereign wealth fund had invested a billion dollars in the streaming service DAZN. The service had recently purchased the broadcasting rights to the Club World Cup. For: a billion dollars.

Infantino arouses skepticism because he deals with the most controversial figures in power—as he did with Vladimir Putin at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. At the 2022 World Cup, he courted the Qatari regime.

Now, ahead of the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will also be held in Mexico and Canada, Infantino is seeking proximity to Trump, whom he jovially describes as a friend. "I think it's absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president," he said before the trip with Trump, which resulted in his delay with FIFA officials.

This trip caused trouble: Gianni Infantino (from left) with Donald Trump at the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Source: Alex Brandon/AP/dpa

Even Infantino is not immune to uncertainties. This week, he described the Club World Cup in Miami as football's "Big Bang." "We will make history here in North America," he said on the US East Coast, while in Los Angeles on the US West Coast, his friend Trump deployed the National Guard against demonstrators. FIFA, however, has not commented on the unrest in the US. As a representative of football, it is its credo not to interfere in the politics of the host country.

And as far as the acceptance of the World Cup in the States goes, football's "Big Bang" doesn't seem to have fully sunk in yet. So few tickets were sold for the opening match on Saturday evening in Miami, broadcast at prime time in the US (Sunday, 2 a.m., CEST), between Al Ahly of Egypt and Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, that FIFA gave students four free tickets for every $20 ticket purchased. Overall, tickets are now selling for less than they were months ago.

Infantino doesn't seem to be bothered by this. Before the kickoff of his World Cup, he has higher goals, which he expresses with his usual pathos: "It's also about glory. All participating teams have the opportunity to secure their place in the history books as winners."

The Swiss has already secured this spot. However, the extent to which he will win will be determined, among other things, by the two FIFA tournaments in the USA within a year.