Yle: The Football Association supports Gianni Infantino

Lahti said in an interview with Yle that the Board of the Football Association decided on the matter at the end of June. Lahti justified the union’s position with, among other things, Fifa’s improved financial management.

“There was bad corruption in FIFA when Infantino started as president. He has been able to bring transparency to the use of money,” said Lahti.

In addition, the fact that Infantino’s close circle includes a Swede Mattias Grafströmaffects the union’s position, according to Lahti. Grafström is the new general secretary of Fifa.

“For the Nordic countries, it is important that we have a direct connection to Fifa’s operational management. We value that, because through that we are also able to influence quite a lot of different things,” Lahti stated.

Infantino has received extensive criticism throughout his presidency. Among other things, his warm interludes have raised a stir to Donald Trump and to the leadership of Saudi Arabia. Infantino awarded Trump the FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025.

At this year’s World Cup, criticism of Infantino has grown even more for the United States striker Folarin Balogunin due to suspension. Trump said he had called Infantino about the situation, after which Fifa decided to overturn the automatic suspension following the red card. Both Fifa and Infantino have denied that this influenced the disciplinary decision.

In addition, Infantino has publicly supported Russia’s return to international football. The Finnish Football Federation, on the other hand, has opposed the participation of Russia and Belarus in international competition activities.

Open has been president of the Finnish Football Association since 2018. Infantino, on the other hand, became president of Fifa in 2016 Sepp Blatter’s after a massive corruption scandal.