Gianni Infantino and Fifa: More millions for the football community

It won’t be a big reception for Fifa President Gianni Infantino. Delegates from the world football association are gathering in Vancouver on Thursday for their annual congress, and FIFA had made a very specific request to the local police. She asked that her boss be treated as a person with security level four, including long lines of cars and the right to drive through any red light. This level, the Canadian media pointed out with relish, would otherwise only be available to Canada’s Prime Minister and the US President; it is just below the level of a Pope’s visit. As soon as the request became public, FIFA hastily tried to limit the damage in order to at least remove the patron from the line of ridicule: He had nothing to do with the request and had no knowledge of it. As if Infantino would also take the city bus.

Either way, the incident fits Infantino’s public perception perfectly. And even within the football industry, there has long been the impression that the sports official considers himself to be as infallible as the head of the Catholics. The Italo-Swiss man’s cinematic scandal era at the top of the association has been going on since 2016, and it is definitely set to be extended next year. In 2027, Infantino will stand for re-election for the third and – according to the valid but always changeable statutes – the last time. But nervousness is already growing in the presidential camp, and the election campaign has already begun. On Tuesday, the 2027 electoral congress was awarded to Morocco’s capital Rabat, a country particularly closely linked to Infantino.

Dissatisfaction with the FIFA ruler has also reached a critical point in football. Because of the epic scandal chronicle, but above all because of countless problems and dropouts surrounding the 2026 World Cup in the USA. The symbiotic proximity to Donald Trump has become toxic. Although the traditionally colorful officials of the South American continental association Conmebol recently came forward with a pro-Infantino election recommendation, these are only ten of the 211 Fifa member associations. Africa, whose football has been ruled by Infantino’s confidants over the past few years, is experiencing a rift in sports politics, and more and more are tired of the tutelage from Zurich. And the FIFA boss doesn’t have a good standing in Europe anyway. The Swedish King Carl Gustaf has just turned down a personal invitation from Infantino to the World Cup. And worse: Norway’s association wants to urge Congress to abolish the much-derided FIFA Peace Prize, which Infantino recently invented to ensnare Trump.

This is the situation in which Infantino’s association managers are now relying on the oldest of all sports policy success methods: more money for the football community! While the fans are almost bleeding out financially around this World Cup and have to shell out record sums for everything from tickets to accommodation, FIFA is paying out many additional millions; in any case to the member associations and possibly even to the officials of these associations personally. So to those on whose votes Gianni Infantino depends if he wants to be re-elected.

Will every president of a national association soon receive some kind of reimbursement from FIFA?

According to SZ information, the plan is being debated among Fifa members before Congress that in the future all national presidents should receive some kind of expense compensation directly from the world association. There are already more than three dozen top national officials who enjoy princely salaries. Infantino himself is paid out around six million dollars, while the other members of his 37-member council, including the President of the German Football Association, Bernd Neuendorf, receive $250,000 per year. Their work consists of attending a few meetings in a luxurious atmosphere and dutifully accepting what Infantino and the Fifa administration put in front of them.

At least every sixth FIFA member association already has an official who receives a big wad of money from the world association. All 211 association heads could soon benefit from benefits. A payment of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars per person per year is being discussed – a lot of money, especially in countless regions of the world where serious football cannot be played due to circumstances. This delicate point has not yet appeared on the congress agenda, and shortly before the congress began, many top European officials had no idea about the discreet debate that was already reaching a boiling point in Africa. At Fifa meetings, there are entry hatches for topics of this kind in the depths of the agenda. Fifa answered evasively when asked early on Wednesday morning whether such a payment would be made or whether it could rule it out: it referred to the time difference to Vancouver – and left it open whether it would even like to comment on it.

In any case, the world association distributes benefits elsewhere. He has just increased the amount he will pay out to the 48 World Cup participants by almost $150 million. Many associations are extremely dissatisfied with the financial situation surrounding the World Cup. This is a tournament of records in many respects, from the field of participants to the costs for security and spectators. But the individual nations tend to receive little.

Each World Cup participant receives a guaranteed $12.5 million

A total of 727 million dollars was initially planned as a bonus pot, with 10.5 million guaranteed for each starter and 51.5 million for the world champion. But the high costs incurred for logistics and accommodation at this tournament eat up a lot of it, and the fluctuations in the dollar do the rest. On top of that, which is the biggest problem for many, is the issue of taxes. Only Canada and Mexico have granted FIFA the usual tax exemption, while the USA is blocking this. Which, by the way, is also one reason why, unlike originally planned, the 2031 Women’s World Cup will not yet be awarded to the USA at this congress in Vancouver: there are no visa and tax guarantees. The award should not take place until the end of the year. If Trump remains stubborn, Infantino will have another major construction site – this is the only applicant.

Those most affected by the tax burden are teams whose World Cup games take place exclusively or primarily in the USA. Things get particularly complicated because different tax rates apply from state to state. This was already an issue at the Club World Cup that angered the participants. This is even more true now. It will be particularly difficult for smaller associations to achieve a good financial result in this tournament – but even for large nations playing in the USA, the World Cup can quickly become a pay-as-you-go affair up to the quarter-finals. On Tuesday, the council decided at short notice to add a few more million. The total pot grows from 727 to 871 million dollars, the fixed sum per nation from 10.5 to 12.5 million – and on top of that there are subsidies for the costs of the team delegations and increased ticket quotas of over 16 million.

But it’s not just the World Cup participants who should benefit more from the windfall, but also everyone else – although FIFA only generally promises to return the remaining income to football for the benefit of the 211 member associations. In the FIFA world, development funds play a key role. Last year they amounted to almost 500 million dollars through the “Forward” program alone, and 675 million are planned for next year. Some countries have been able to access up to 7.5 million dollars since the program began in 2023 – it is sometimes worth asking how and what exactly this amount of money was spent in some places.

So now there’s a second helping. It remains to be seen whether all the money will be enough to generate cheers and curb the nervousness at the top of the association.