Gianni Infantino’s big World Cup sale and Fifa’s race to the bottom line

7 hours ago 4

FIFA UNITES THE WORLD

We begin Football Daily’s 29 July 2026 edition with a trip back to 26 February 2016. Gianni Infantino has been elected as the new Fifa president on a promise to clean up a disgraced organisation. “A good day for football,” says the FA director, David Gill. “A good day for the sport,” concurs the American Fifa executive committee member, Sunil Gulati. “Who’s that bald loser on the news?” says an unnamed Republican candidate.

Infantino’s message is simple. “Fifa has gone through sad times, moments of crisis. But those times are over. We enter now a new era. We’ll restore the image of Fifa and make sure you will be happy with what we do.” Infantino, whose pitch included a boast that he had vastly increased Uefa’s revenues, promised to address Fifa’s $550m (£414m) financial black hole. “It’s your money, not the money of the Fifa president,” he said. “The money of Fifa has to be used to develop football … I’m a candidate of the whole world and football. We have to build bridges, not walls.”

We’re tempted to leave it at that, as we’re quietly confident you get the message, but editorial norms dictate we should talk about the news that Fifa is seeking private investment in the World Cup and the rest of its competitions. Big Website has done an explainer and everything. The proposed investment is in excess of £7.5bn and, according to a Fifa statement, would be used to expand the net worth of Infantino and Joshua Kushn – we beg your pardon, we completely misread that. We forgot to meditate, pray and chill this morning, so our focus isn’t as good as it could be. The Fifa statement says the money will be used to “expand football development funding”. Fifa’s money does not belong to its president – Infantino said it himself in 2016.

Look, we all know football is about the bottom line. Money doesn’t just talk; it never shuts up. In that context, it’s some achievement for Infantino and friends to come up with an idea so egregious that almost everyone in football has responded with: “Bit much, mate.” Uefa, Concacaf and the FA are among those who have strongly criticised the proposals. Uefa’s 55 members are to hold an emergency meeting, with a potential World Cup boycott on the table. Just 10 days ago, Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the Geopolitics World Cup final, a moment of pure euphoria that would be worth gazillions if only you could bottle it. But you can’t. At its best, football revives the child in all of us. Whatever the linguists tell you, there’s no infant in Infantino.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Football belongs to no individual and to no ‌institution. It belongs to the people. If Fifa were transferred into a profit-oriented ⁠corporate structure, it would lose its soul” – former Fifa president and man of the people Sepp Blatter weighs in on plans to sell off the World Cup.

“I note that, despite the fact that the GWC is over, Football Daily is still arriving in my inbox in the early afternoon. As someone used to it screeching in late like a Djed Spence sliding tackle, I find this disconcerting. Also, the realisation that it isn’t home time yet is almost as disappointing as the contents of the email” – Richard O’Hagan [normal service has resumed, for today at least – Football Daily Ed].

“I think Readng/Readino (yesterday’s full email edition) should turn their grammatical errors into a rebranding opportunity that adds a little continental pizazz. Athletic Readino, Real Readino, Dynamo Readng, Sporting Readino. It’d see people flocking to this bustling, cosmopolitan destination town. Possibly” – Martin Clifford.

“Cancel Football. Too much info” – Peter Craswell.

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