I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go.
I have loved football all my life. I was a professional player for 20 years. And believe me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game.
But what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed.
The man who would do that – the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends – is a relic of the game’s past and should have no part in its future.
If it was such a good idea, why not tell your members when you had them all in a room before the World Cup Final?
If it was such a robust plan, why not tell your members the risks as well as what you describe as the benefits?
Portugal legend Luis Figo (right) pictured with under pressure FIFA president Gianni Infantino
Infantino is holding crisis talks with staff after calling an urgent meeting in Morocco tomorrow
If the scheme was a no-brainer, why not be honest about the fact that it was going to give you a $30m-a-year job at the end of it?
But none of this was done. Because it’s not a good idea. It’s not robust when you fail to be transparent about the crippling returns that private equity always seek.
It’s not bold when you fail to explain that once you have sold your share it is gone forever and you have disinherited your successors from ownership of the World Cup.
And it’s not honest when you fail to mention that, after you have delivered the head of the World Cup on a platter to your mates in DC, they are going to give you a job worth five times your current salary.
None of this comes as a surprise when you consider the litany of abuses he has inflicted on football’s reputation; from suspending and reversing disciplinary decisions to breaking the laws of the game over a half-time show, nothing gets in the way of pleasing his friends.
Nor is it a surprise when you read the comments of (Jordan FA president) Prince Ali, highlighting the mob-like behaviour of Infantino’s FIFA; obstructing his FA’s work and funding in order to secure a nomination letter so that the reign of terrible self-interest can continue.
Football does need a discussion about money. But not the money that could go out of the game to investors or on bloated administrator salaries.
I mean the money that should be spent on building pitches and training coaches to make sure that every child in the world has the chance to fall in love with the most beautiful sport on the planet.
I mean the $5bn in FIFA’s reserves for a start. How many shares could that buy in this grubby, underhand plot? All of them! So there is no need for outside investment after all.
The FIFA president ‘deviously’ and ‘cravenly’ plotted to sell the World Cup to private investors
This plan – like the Super League before it – was blown apart by the media exposing every devious twist and turn before its advocates had their messaging straight. And thank goodness it was.
Infantino has debased the office of FIFA President that he promised to elevate. He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve.
He has lost the support of his senior staff, his closest advisers, the vast majority of people who devote their lives to this sport and even, it would seem, the FIFA Peace Prize winner.
It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now.
Luis Figo played almost 800 games in a glittering club career spanning Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He also won 127 caps for Portugal and has been a UEFA football advisor since 2017.
