TO DOHA!
When Russia played Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the last World Cup, Gianni Infantino wasn’t the only dignitary in the crowd. As Russia opened the scoring, the cameras cut to the corporate seats, where the Fifa president could be seen sharing a funny joke with the matchday buddies sitting either side of him, Vladimir Putin and Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman. Of course, this was back in the days before the Saudi crown prince was discovered to have ordered his hit squad to play fast and loose with a bonesaw, or the Russian president had declared outright war on Ukraine. On that particular summer’s evening in Moscow, they were just a pair of common-or-garden tyrants kicking back and enjoying the craic, brought together by their good pal Gianni.
