Expert: FIFA's Infantino failed due to 'arrogance,' wanting to be a 'mafia boss'

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been forced to retreat from his ambitious plan to partially privatize the organization's major tournaments. The proposal, named FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE), aimed to transfer the organization of FIFA's flagship events to a private entity, with a 21% minority stake offered to a group of private investors for roughly 3.65 billion euros.

Under the FFE plan, FIFA's 211 member nations were each slated to receive approximately 35 million euros over two four-year cycles. However, the proposal faced formidable resistance, particularly from the powerful Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). UEFA's strong opposition quickly swayed the broader football world, leading to a unified stance against Infantino's initiative.

Sami Kolamo, an associate professor of media culture at Tampere University, assessed that Infantino's plan faltered due to what he perceived as the FIFA president's arrogance. Kolamo believes Infantino overestimated the appeal of his proposal and failed to adequately secure support from key football stakeholders before its public announcement. "FFE was built in secret from the world's football decision-makers," Kolamo stated. "These are very influential people who do not like being bypassed in planning and decision-making."

Kolamo pointed out that Infantino lacked the widespread international backing that his predecessors, Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter, traditionally enjoyed. He noted that Havelange and Blatter built their support networks by addressing the needs of poorer football nations within the confederations of Asia (AFC), North and Central America (Concacaf), and Africa (CAF), sharing revenue generously. Infantino, conversely, has built his power base outside of football, in politics and business, which Kolamo suggests is evident in the background of the FFE investors, who were reportedly linked to Donald Trump's inner circle. This approach, Kolamo argues, revealed Infantino's weakness: a lack of unconditional support within the football world itself, despite his strong position as FIFA president.

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FFE was built in secret from the world's football decision-makers. These are very influential people who do not like being bypassed in planning and decision-making. This was seen and heard in the statements from the continental federations of Asia (AFC) and North and Central America (Concacaf). Ultimately, Infantino lacked the broad international support that his predecessors, Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter, traditionally had.