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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Paul MacInnes

Gianni Infantino, Fifa and the week that rocked the football world

Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump during the trophy presentation after the 2026 World Cup final
Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump were at the centre of Fifa’s doomed plan to sell commercial rights to the World Cup. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

What has been happening?

It has been a week that has rocked football. The news caught everyone by surprise. When reports first emerged on Tuesday afternoon that Fifa, world football’s governing body, was to launch a vehicle to control the commercial rights to the World Cup, and would sell a stake of this company to investors, even members of the central decision-making body, the Fifa Council, hadn’t known about it. But it was equally the case that the story – first broken by the Times – caught Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, unawares. Fifa were rushed into announcing a plan they had wanted to keep under wraps for longer, and in the full glare of global media interest.

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