In the aftermath of the World Cup, despite the many issues that had plagued the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Gianni Infantino spoke in tones that suggested he felt invincible. By delivering record revenues and the “most outstanding” World Cup ever, the Fifa president felt emboldened enough to embark on a victory lap, admonishing his critics from within the stronghold of his Fifa palace, while safe in the knowledge that the structures and mechanisms designed to keep him in power were secure.
Barely a week later, the walls around Infantino are crumbling before our eyes. In overplaying his hand and rushing through proposals to sell stakes in the World Cup and Fifa tournaments to private investors, Infantino has crossed a line from which he may not return. Uefa’s extraordinary decision to boycott the World Cup should Infantino have gotten his way led to two more federations, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, rejecting his proposals.
