A Swiss investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s pursuit of power through expansion
Arguably, the most powerful man on the pitch in this year’s World Cup is Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the world football’s governing body. At the opening ceremony on June 11 in Mexico City, actress Salma Hayek wore gloves as she handed him the trophy. Infantino took it with bare hands. And a lot of cash passes through those hands, according to an investigation by a team of Swiss journalists at Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).
After all, the World Cup is a giant money-making machine, and Infantino (referred to in the piece as “King Gianni”) has been at the helm since 2016. Asked by journalists about exorbitant ticket prices in this year’s tournament, he shrugged them off with a nod to French singer Édith Piaf: “I regret nothing.” He similarly dismissed criticisms around the US’s denial of entry to Somali referee Omar Artan, telling people to “chill”.
But some of the press has been less forgiving: NZZ cites a piece in The Independent which likens one of his speeches to Trump-style provocations, and called it a “shambolic start” to the World Cup. In typical Swiss fashion, the piece is more a reconstruction of facts as opposed to a scandalous report.
Under Infantino’s leadership, far more so than with his predecessors, the World Cup is a celebration of money more than anything else. This year’s tournament is expected to generate around US$13 billion for the association – double what it was eight years ago. According to the article, a key driver is the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams, creating more matches and, in turn, more revenue from ticket sales.
But some people have refused to take part in the most expensive World Cup in history. In apparent protest, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum skipped the opening ceremony, giving her ticket instead to a 21-year-old Indigenous woman. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani bought 1,000 discounted tickets at US$50 apiece, distributed through a lottery. As for the US opening match against Paraguay, even his close ally and billionaire president Donald Trump said he wouldn’t pay for a ticket.
Infantino’s philosophy is simple: extract every dollar possible. Yet, as NZZ notes, he comes from humble origins. The son of an Italian working-class family in Switzerland, he dreamed of becoming a footballer. Instead, he studied law, became secretary general of UEFA, European football’s governing body, and quickly climbed to the top of FIFA.
Infantino is known for his erratic arrogance and political power games. Last year, he made the FIFA Congress in Paraguay wait for three hours while he travelled in the Gulf states with a Trump delegation. In 2022, he delivered a now infamous speech in Qatar in which he criticised the Western media for “hypocrisy” in its coverage of the country’s human rights record. In between dramatic pauses, he declared: “Today … I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay,” before explaining that he understands “what it means to be discriminated and bullied as a foreigner in a foreign country.”
A seasoned diplomat, Infantino sits comfortably unchallenged in the football universe, despite the controversy and criticism that surrounds him.
Part of this could be due to his expansion of the FIFA Forward programme, a grant scheme for national football associations to which he has allocated US$2.25 billion this year. He has also significantly increased World Cup prize money: the champions will now receive US$50 million, with a total of US$871 million distributed through programme – almost double the figure of the last World Cup.
Meanwhile, federations largely remain silent – NZZ says it reached out to various African federations for their views on ticket prices, and not a single one responded.
Next year, Infantino will run for re-election, and he looks set to maintain his reign over the sport.
The original article ‘Die Fussball-WM findet im Land des ungezügelten Kapitalismus statt. Dort vermarktet Infantino den Fussball grenzenlos’ was published in German by Dominic Wirth, Peter B. Birrer, Benedikt Koller and Stefan Osterhaus for NZZ on June 14, 2026.
NZZ is a leading Swiss newspaper.
Summary by Isabel Jacobs
