{"id":8566,"date":"2026-02-25T15:45:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/expansion-reform-and-controversy-10-years-of-infantino-as-fifa-president\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:45:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:02","slug":"expansion-reform-and-controversy-10-years-of-infantino-as-fifa-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/expansion-reform-and-controversy-10-years-of-infantino-as-fifa-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Expansion, reform and controversy &#8211; 10 years of Infantino as Fifa president"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/topics\/cglgnp4394wt\">Dale Johnson<\/a>Football issues correspondent<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published17 minutes ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is 10 years since Gianni Infantino was elected Fifa president, with a remit to rescue football&#x27;s world governing body.<\/p>\n<p>The decade since has been one of reform, expansion and, more recently, controversy.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino was installed with Fifa <a href=\"\/news\/world-europe-32897066\">engulfed by claims of widespread corruption<\/a> and after predecessor Sepp Blatter <a href=\"http:\/\/bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/32982449\">had resigned.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fifa&#x27;s finances were in a desperate state. There was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2016\/feb\/26\/fifa-members-vote-reform-package-election\">reported $550m (\u00a3392m) black hole, <!-- -->external<\/a> after sponsors walked away.<\/p>\n<p>In Infantino, the game felt it had found a safe pair of hands.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I will work tirelessly to bring football back to Fifa, and Fifa back to football,&quot; Infantino said.<\/p>\n<p>Ten years on, there can be no doubt the governing body is in rude health. It <a href=\"https:\/\/inside.fifa.com\/official-documents\/annual-report\/2024\/financials\/revised-2023-2026-budget\">expects to report record revenues, <!-- -->external<\/a> of $13bn (\u00a39.6bn) for the three-year cycle through to the end of this year.<\/p>\n<p>But those figures only tell part of the story.<\/p>\n<p>They are boosted by the controversial Club World Cup, and the biggest-ever World Cup with its <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/ckgdjzkpve9o\">high ticket prices.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Infantino has clashed with players&#x27; unions and European football, but he remains in an impregnable position at the top of the world game.<\/p>\n<p>This is the story of his presidency and his legacy.<\/p>\n<h2>&#x27;A new day, a new dawn&#x27;<\/h2>\n<p>It is easy to forget Blatter&#x27;s successor as Fifa president was supposed to be Michel Platini.<\/p>\n<p>But after <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/35144652\">Platini was drawn into the scandal at the organisation<\/a> &#8211; both he and Blatter were later fully cleared of corruption charges &#8211; Infantino was thrust forward as Uefa&#x27;s preferred candidate.<\/p>\n<p>As the general secretary of European football&#x27;s governing body, Infantino had been the right-hand man of president Platini for seven years.<\/p>\n<p>But he was an unlikely saviour &#8211; a man who was rarely in the consciousness of the average football fan. <\/p>\n<p>To many he was just the guy who presented Champions League draws. <\/p>\n<p>Ten years on, you would be hard pressed to find a football fan who does not recognise him.<\/p>\n<p>Turning Fifa around was no small task. <\/p>\n<p>The US Department of Justice had <a href=\"\/news\/world-europe-32897066\">indicted a large number of top executives<\/a> and it needed root-and-branch reform.<\/p>\n<p>Two pages of Infantino&#x27;s manifesto were devoted to more than doubling development money for member associations. <\/p>\n<p>That would be for new competitions, for infrastructure, and even to cover travel costs for smaller nations.<\/p>\n<p>Expanding the World Cup was also included, though to 40 teams. Within a year it had been <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/38565246\">rubberstamped as a 48-team tournament.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The election was a close-run thing.<\/p>\n<p>In the first round of votes, Infantino led Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa &#8211; president of the Asian confederation &#8211; by 88 votes to 85.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino only moved clear when the 34 votes originally cast for Jordan&#x27;s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and French executive Jerome Champagne were reallocated. <\/p>\n<p>The final score was 115 votes to 88.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is a new day, a new dawn,&quot; said then Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, welcoming Infantino&#x27;s win. &quot;He is not a politician and he is not an ego.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Infantino, meanwhile, declared he would &quot;restore the image of Fifa&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It&#x27;s your money, not the money of the Fifa president,&quot; Infantino told delegates. &quot;The money of Fifa has to be used to develop football.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Infantino was true to his word. But to make more money, Fifa had to be creative.<\/p>\n<h2>Infantino takes centre stage over Qatar<\/h2>\n<p>The controversial World Cups of 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar were waiting in Infantino&#x27;s in-tray.<\/p>\n<p>Voting for the tournaments had been <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/30031405\">shrouded in controversy<\/a> with claims of collusion and deals, but the deeds were already done.<\/p>\n<p>In his early years as president, Infantino kept a fairly low profile. It was only when the World Cup rolled into Qatar that he started to become a more public figure.<\/p>\n<p>Under pressure amid <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/24282713\">repeated criticisms about workers&#x27; rights and claims of modern slavery<\/a> in the country, Infantino hit back.<\/p>\n<p>He first called out <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/63687412\">&quot;hypocrisy&quot; and &quot;racism&quot;<\/a> about Qatar in the European media, then made his infamous speech about discrimination. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;Today I feel Qatari,&quot; he said. &quot;Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>At every game he attended, TV cameras appeared to pick him out in the crowd. <\/p>\n<p>And there was a reason. Reports, which Fifa declined to comment on, suggested television directors were advised that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/sport\/article\/gianni-infantino-world-cup-tv-crews-orders-during-matches-x8qgcshp6\">Infantino should be shown at least once each game, but not if he was on his phone., <!-- -->external<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c04vq6ldv6lo\">\n<p>Fifa accused of breaching own rules with Trump award<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published9 December 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c5yjgg0zljro\">\n<p>Trump and Infantino &#8211; too close for comfort?<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published4 December 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/clygxll1yr1o\">\n<p>Fifa accused of creating &#x27;fake&#x27; player unions<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published12 November 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Infantino starts to court controversy<\/h2>\n<p>After the Qatar World Cup, Infantino made many more headlines &#8211; from hosting plans and new tournaments to disparaging remarks about the behaviour of England fans.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino had promised an expanded, summer Club World Cup shortly after his election in 2016. <\/p>\n<p>The plan hit several delays but &#8211; two days before the 2022 World Cup final &#8211; Fifa eventually announced it would go ahead in 2025, hosted by the United States.<\/p>\n<p>It placed a large-scale tournament in a summer which was usually reserved for player recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Fifa <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cxx85j2nr41o\">rejected claims<\/a> players&#x27; union&#x27; Fifpro and the World Leagues&#x27; Association were not consulted.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the unique allocation of the 2030 and 2034 World Cup finals.<\/p>\n<p>It was decided the 2030 edition <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/67010609\">would be staged across three continents<\/a> &#8211; Africa, Europe and South America. That meant the 2034 event had to go to Asia or Oceania.<\/p>\n<p>With no realistic competition, it effectively guaranteed Saudi Arabia &#8211; another country with <a href=\"text=%22The%202034%20Saudi%20World%20Cup,of%20Global%20Initiatives%20at%20Human\">questions about its human rights record<\/a> &#8211; would host. <\/p>\n<p>Saudi Arabia and Fifa, under Infantino, had <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cm2edy8kxpno\">developed a close relationship.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Norway&#x27;s football federation <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cm2edy8kxpno\">abstained from the process and argued<\/a> the bidding process undermined &quot;Fifa&#x27;s reforms for good governance&quot; and challenged &quot;trust in Fifa&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2024, with the new-look Club World Cup drawing closer, Fifa unveiled the trophy &#8211; engraved with a personal tribute.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Inspired by the Fifa president Gianni Infantino,&quot; it read.<\/p>\n<h2>Infantino grows closer to Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Uefa was growing frustrated with Infantino&#x27;s profile and <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c5yjgg0zljro\">his close relationship with US President Donald Trump.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It came to a head in May 2025. Infantino had been on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East with Trump and turned up two hours late for the Fifa Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Uefa accused Infantino of prioritising &quot;private political interests&quot; and <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cwy7w5dd37jo\">staged a walk-out.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then came last summer&#x27;s Club World Cup, which was characterised by <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c74z8v15g8eo\">stadiums with swathes of empty seats.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yet when Infantino gathered the media at Trump Tower, he declared it to be &quot;already the most successful club competition in the world&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>In December, the draw for this summer&#x27;s World Cup was a long, lavish and outlandish affair.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino was front and centre, and Trump was awarded the <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cy5gw0wv5zqo\">controversial Fifa Peace Prize.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Within a week came the announcement of <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c80x38e04yro\">high ticket prices<\/a> for the finals.<\/p>\n<p>Group-stage tickets are up to three times the price of those for the 2022 World Cup,  and the cheapest ticket for the final in New Jersey is \u00a33,119.<\/p>\n<p>After <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/c157xenkg24o\">a minor climbdown<\/a>, Infantino <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cn4d41p7v2zo\">defended the prices<\/a> and said they reflected the public&#x27;s &quot;absolutely crazy&quot; demand.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino insisted all the money would go back into the game, saying &quot;without Fifa there would be no football in 150 countries&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>He still had one more media mis-step to go before reaching his 10-year anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/cq6v33509vjo\">he had to apologise<\/a> after saying it was &quot;really special&quot; no British nationals were arrested during the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Infantino&#x27;s position remains impregnable <\/h2>\n<p>Despite the controversies, one fact remains: there is no meaningful opposition to Infantino.<\/p>\n<p>While the 55-year-old may face criticism in Europe, for the rest of the world he has made a clear difference. Yes, it is about money. But money for football.<\/p>\n<p>He has enriched some of the poorest and smallest footballing nations, proving funding through infrastructure and development.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino has been true to his word that Fifa would be transparent &#8211; publishing the salaries of all top executives and keeping funds within football.<\/p>\n<p>The Swiss delivered on his initial promise of an extra $5m (\u00a33.7m) for every national association over the first four years, and $40m (\u00a329.7m) for each confederation.<\/p>\n<p>Across the first two cycles of the Fifa Forward project through to 2022, $2.8bn (\u00a32.08bn) was made available for investment across the 211 member associations on more than 1,600 projects.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/inside.fifa.com\/advancing-football\/fifa-forward\/programme-overview\">Fifa Forward 3.0, <!-- -->external<\/a> &#8211; covering the years 2023 through to 2026 &#8211; has produced a 30% increase in funding.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino has provided a further $5m (\u00a33.7m) for every member association, with another $60m (\u00a344.48m) paid to each confederation for their own projects.<\/p>\n<p>After being re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, he is approaching another election year in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino will be able to stand again, even though Fifa statues limit the president to a maximum of three terms.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022 the governance, audit and compliance committee ruled his first term did not count, as it was only for three years.<\/p>\n<p>With the way Infantino has improved the financial situation of so many associations, it is hard to see how anyone could realistically challenge him in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Almost half of the 2011 votes are held by Asia and Africa &#8211; two regions that have benefited from the hugely increased finances.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino may be criticised for the way he has expanded the Club World Cup, and the World Cup, and the increased ticket prices.<\/p>\n<p>But he sees it as a vehicle to increase investment in the game around the world. <\/p>\n<p>And that&#x27;s a vote winner.<\/p>\n<h2>Related topics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\">Football<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>More on this story<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\/articles\/ce8e6y90g2jo\">\n<p>Follow your club with BBC Sport<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published17 October 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sounds\/series\/p02nrsln\">\n<p>Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/articles\/cl5q9dk9jl3o\">\n<p>Get football news sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published16 August 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expansion, reform and controversy &#8211; 10 years of Infantino as Fifa presidentImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Gianni Infantino celebrates 10 years as Fifa president on 26 FebruaryByDale JohnsonF&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}