Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, who President Trump calls The King of Soccer, has prostrated football at the feet of despots and grifters and on the eve of a World Cup where the build-up has been dominated by division and disquiet, he told those who objected to its direction of travel that ‘it’s good to chill, relax’.
He was at pains to point one thing out. ‘I have a great relationship with President Trump,’ he said. ‘I’m very happy about that. I got to know him during his first mandate and we have been working very closely together now in this second term. Without his engagement and involvement, I think it would have been impossible to organise a World Cup in the United States. As simple as that.’
On the eve of the last World Cup in Qatar, Infantino said he felt Qatari. He said he felt Arabic, African, gay, disabled and like a migrant worker. What that meant, nobody really knew, but it appeared to convey some sort of conviction, at least.
On the eve of this World Cup, Infantino sat on a dais in a marquee outside the Azteca Stadium, where Mexico play South Africa on Thursday, and did not say he felt much of anything at all.
He only answered a few questions about the issues that have dogged the build-up to this World Cup: extortionate ticket prices, his subservience to President Trump, the travel conditions imposed on the Iran national team and the exile of a Somalian referee. He batted them all back with sad smiles.
Infantino only answered a few questions about the issues that have dogged the build-up to this World Cup: extortionate ticket prices, his subservience to President Trump, the travel conditions imposed on the Iran national team and the exile of a Somalian referee
He was at pains to point one thing out. ‘I have a great relationship with President Trump,’ he said
Infantino did not say he felt much of anything at all
Some noticed that Infantino had adopted some of the rhetorical flourishes that Trump uses, some of the oratorical traits, some of the same speech mannerisms. He did not, in his defence, shout at any female journalists. So there was that. Otherwise, this was an exercise in deflection.
‘Let me say that on Iran, I am very happy because I went to see the Iranian team in Turkey in March this year,’ Infantino said. ‘People were saying Iran couldn’t come to the World Cup, I promised them they will come and if I have to go on a bus to Tehran and drive them here I will do that.
‘Their answer was we will take the bus and drive ourselves if needs be. We qualified and we want to play. This is the spirit of football. There are challenges, it’s not easy, but I don’t know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances – which we could not influence – Iran could come and play.’
The truth is that the King of Soccer rules with very little that resembles principle but if there is one, apart from the pursuit of profit, it is this: the pragmatism of sycophancy. The pragmatism of sycophancy makes the rest of football blanche but it informs almost all that the King of Soccer does.
In the cause of the beautiful game and his own hold over it, the King of Soccer, who behaves more and more as if he truly believes he is a monarch, awarded a hastily-initiated Fifa Peace Prize to President Donald Trump and wore a Maga-style red baseball hat at his bidding.
Infantino awarded a hastily-initiated Fifa Peace Prize to President Donald Trump
The King of Soccer has spent what feels like a lifetime flattering President Trump in the belief that it would earn the World Cup special favours but in the last couple of months, as it was put to him here, it feels as if Infantino has lost control of his own tournament. ‘A World Cup of chaos,’ the former England striker, Ian Wright, called it this week.
It was last December, at the World Cup draw in Washington DC, when Infantino stepped up his flattery offensive with Trump. Aware that Trump craved the Nobel Peace Prize and had seen his ambitions to receive it rebuffed, Infantino had a brainwave.
He created a Fifa Peace Prize, which had the strapline ‘Football Unites the World’, and made Trump the first recipient. Trump was presented with a gold trophy and a medal. The award, it was said, was to honour Trump’s diplomatic efforts in resolving conflicts.
Inconveniently, in the months between that charade and the beginning of the World Cup, the US has taken military action in Venezuela, Nigeria and Iran. Trump has also hinted at interventions in Greenland, Mexico and Colombia, as well as suggesting the annexation of co-host Canada.
It has already been a hugely embarrassing start to the World Cup for Infantino, even before a ball has been kicked. On Saturday, Omar Artan, one of Africa’s leading referees, was denied entry to the USA when he arrived at Miami International Airport over ‘vetting concerns’. The US Customs and Border Protection would not elaborate on those concerns.
Artan was set to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after he had made Fifa’s final list for the tournament. He was named Africa’s best male referee last year. He was questioned for 11 hours by border officials before being put on a flight to Istanbul, in Turkey.
It has already been a hugely embarrassing start to the World Cup for Infantino, even before a ball has been kicked
Artan, pictured returning to Somalia, was set to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after he had made Fifa’s final list for the tournament
His exclusion comes after fans and journalists from Iran, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Senegal and other countries were refused permission to travel to the USA. The travel ban caused protests from the International Sports Press Association, which wrote a letter of complaint to Fifa and has led to dismay at the betrayal of what is supposed to be a jamboree that welcomes all.
There are also concerns about the restrictions that have been placed on the Iran national team and its staff. After President Trump refused to guarantee their safety in the USA, Iran moved its training base at the last minute from America to Tijuana, in Mexico, close to the border.
The Iran team will not be allowed to remain in the US overnight for any of its matches and must travel in and out on the day of their games, two of which are in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. This is unprecedented. It puts Iran at a disadvantage. One team is being clearly discriminated against.
‘This should obliterate the idea, that has still been somewhat prevalent in the world, of a separation between politics and sport,’ former Australia skipper Craig Foster said. ‘Unlike any other sporting tournament I can recall in modern times, this is a deeply politicised World Cup.’
The Iran team will not be allowed to remain in the US overnight for any of its matches and must travel in and out on the day of their games, two of which are in Los Angeles and one in Seattle
Against that backdrop, there is also a feeling of barely contained chaos in Mexico City. On Tuesday, anyone wanting to make their way to the Estadio Azteca on public transport was met by signs advising of the temporary closure of El Vergel, Estadio Azteca, and Huipulco light rail stations due to the actions of protesters, who were blocking the line.
The front page headline of El Sol de Mexico on Tuesday warned of a ‘Megamanifestacion’ at the start of the World Cup. The Mega Strike, it said, would include at least nine protests from human rights groups, students, teachers, and shopkeepers. That was before they mentioned a planned demonstration by residents close to the Azteca and by women’s groups keen to raise the issue of more than 130,000 people who have disappeared during Mexico’s drug wars.
Yes, it will make money. Lots and lots of money. It is set to become the most lucrative event in sports history, with Fifa estimated to make a record $9bn (£6.74bn) this year alone. That means it will redistribute $2.7bn to the national football associations over the next four years. It all increases the chances of Infantino winning a third re-election next year.
It is a tournament that feels as if it has been subsumed by a greater lust for profit than ever before. The fans suffer most, be that because of outlandishly expensive ticket prices or clumsy, and frankly, callous decisions like the ban on bringing reusable water bottles into venues, a late change that many believed was born from commercial reasons. The outcry over that last move was such that even Fifa were forced to back down.
So the truth is that this is a World Cup that feels in need of redemption. It is a World Cup that feels as if it is need of deliverance from Infantino and Trump and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and the ticket resale sites and the inflated travel costs. It is a tournament that needs to be delivered from itself.
It is a World Cup that feels as if it is need of deliverance from Infantino and Trump and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and the ticket resale sites and the inflated travel costs. It is a tournament that needs to be delivered from itself
As always, that gift lies in the hands of the players. It is only they who can overcome this bloated schedule and this ill-conceived format of 48 teams and 104 matches across three different nations. It is only Lamine Yamal, Vitinha, Vinicius Jr, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Ousmane Dembele who can save this World Cup.
Because of the format, it will be a slow burn but once it enters the last 16, it should be an enthralling tournament. It is one of the most open World Cups for decades. There is no clear favourite to hold the trophy aloft at the end of the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19. There is no single player who stands out as likely to dominate the tournament or the race for the Golden Boot.
The old heroes, the titans of the game, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, are still here, girding themselves for one last shot at the biggest prize of all and one last shot at each other. Messi won it in Qatar but it is the one last trophy that eludes Ronaldo. The duel between the two of them has lasted into their middle age.
They both play for teams who are contenders. The winner could come from any one of Argentina, France, Spain, Brazil, Portugal or England. Spain are the most heavily favoured of the leading group but their chances will be affected by whether Yamal is hampered by the hamstring injury he suffered playing for Barcelona six weeks ago.
Yamal and Kylian Mbappe both have a claim to be the world’s greatest player now that Messi and Ronaldo are in their footballing dotage and so does England’s Harry Kane. They, too, play for teams who are contenders. Whether Neymar Jr will be able to conjure the magic of yesteryear for Brazil feels more doubtful.
But for all the disquiet over ticket prices, Trump, ICE, Infantino, water bottles, transport costs, and the 48-team format, rescue is at hand. It is here in the form of the players, in Messi, Vitinha, Erling Haaland, Kane, Mo Salah, Mbappe and Sadio Mane. These men are the Kings of Soccer, not a man in a suit with a God complex.
