There is no lack of noble goals. Right on the homepage, the world football association FIFA lets it be known that it is supposedly about much more than just sport. On the home page it says: “FIFA is modernizing our sport to be global, open and inclusive in every way – not just on one or two continents, but everywhere.”
It’s such melodious slogans that President Gianni Infantino likes to preach – and occasionally overshoots the mark. The shady impresario gave a particularly perfidious example of overconfidence in his speech on Wednesday (January 26, 2022) before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
His business games are easy to understand
The Swiss commented on the commission’s report “Football Management: Economy and Values”, spoke about the reform of the transfer system, the promotion of transparency and integrity, the protection of children and human rights – and (of course) drew the line to his heart project, in which he icy wind is blowing, especially from Europe: a World Cup every two years.
The comparisons are both irritating and dangerous
In order to promote this project, the former general secretary of the European football union UEFA, in all seriousness, claimed that hope should be given to Africans (through football?) so that they would not have to come across the Mediterranean. Thus, Infantino made an inexcusable dropout. Such comparisons are not only irritating, they are also dangerous. Because simply wrong. You mix a lot, if not everything.
Does he seriously believe that a football World Cup will alleviate the suffering in Africa, that people will no longer flee? The fact that Infantino rowed back the day after, suddenly claiming that his statements had been misinterpreted and taken out of context, doesn’t make it any better.
UEFA and FIFA are also taking the profiteering to the extreme
Sure, the concentration of forces and funds on a few European top leagues ensure that Asia and Africa in particular can get used to the idea of a shorter World Cup cycle. But the global problem in the Asian and African crisis regions will certainly not be solved by a football World Cup that is more closely scheduled. Infantino’s self-aggrandizement has actually made him unbearable as a representative of world football for some time.
His opponent Aleksander Ceferin at UEFA is not doing much better either: the Slovenian proudly announced on Thursday (January 27, 2022) that the Council of Europe had issued a clear no to selfish super leagues and a clear no to extravagant World Cup proposals , but under Ceferin the questionable Nations League was introduced, a whole new European cup competition called the Europa Conference League was invented and the Champions League will be inflated even further – and the number of games there will be doubled from 2024. That’s what FIFA and UEFA are all about: more games and more marketing, more power and more money.
The comments from Africa hurt him
Infantino is not driven by the leitmotif of improving the living conditions of disadvantaged groups of the population, but by expanding the world tournament to 48 teams from 2026 and then perhaps shortening the World Cup every two years, he wants to strengthen the profit and influence of his organization – and the Give UEFA a lesson. The fact that he brought his misplaced Africa statements on the unresolved migration problem to the Council of Europe (and at the same time softened human rights in Qatar) only shows how brazenly someone proceeds to get his interests through.
Even his apology doesn’t make anything better: the statement should now suddenly “general comment” have been? That’s a cheap excuse. The grim truth is that football’s top official is determined to foist his schemes on recalcitrant Europeans and their allied South Americans. The fact that he also received bitter comments from Africa is likely to hurt Infantino the most. Because without their votes, he will never get his reform through.
Status: 01/27/2022, 11:45 am