“He is very online but does not like the media. He flies all over the world in a fancy private plane provided by Qatar. He presides over a large organisation, with committees and a big rulebook, but makes all the key decisions and only tells a few people what he is doing. He loves shiny things and fireworks. He wants to do more business with the Kushner family and believes he is underpaid. His preferred strategy is to double down, flood the zone and ask for more — it is an approach that has worked well for him so far. Some people think he is amazing, some do not. Can you tell who it is yet? No, not him, the other one. Yes! It’s FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is back in the news again after a break of… 24 hours? The newest Infantino headline is that he wants to put all the money-making parts of FIFA into a new company and then sell 20 per cent of it to private investors because… well, never mind about that. Have I mentioned that by letting him do this, each of FIFA’s 211 member countries will get $40million (£30m) over the next four years, as opposed to just $10m they are currently down for? I hadn’t? Right, well, that is the pitch, and those member associations have until September 19 — a whole 52 days away — to decide if they are in or out. For his supporters, the choice is simple. More money is the answer to every problem a national football federation might have. If you ran the game in Aruba or Zimbabwe, why wouldn’t you do this? Seriously. But, for his critics, this is the last chance to say ‘Enough!’ or, at very least, ‘Hang on. Can we have a moment to think about this, please?’ Given Infantino’s desire to move fast and fix/break things, this story will progress quickly. On one side, votes are being counted, contracts drawn up and logos designed, but on the other, potential rebels are firing off Zoom invites to federation chiefs for emergency meetings from their post-World Cup sun beds. So, without further ado, here is The Athletic’s attempt to answer five questions that jumped out to us on Tuesday evening. …”
NYT/ATH (Video)
Al-jazeera: FIFA proposes plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, angering UEFAf (Video)
Guardian: Uefa has to show backbone: concrete action can make Fifa’s World Cup plans untenable (Video)
Guardian: Uefa calls emergency meeting as opposition to Fifa plan hardens (Video)
Guardian: Infantino’s World Cup plan is part of a desire for expansion that was clear from the start
Guardian: Uefa accuses Fifa of ‘enriching themselves and their friends’ over World Cup sell-off (Video)
cablgram: FIFA
YouTube: FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe’s UEFA, FIFA hit by furious backlash over plans to sell stake in competitions