The actions of Fifa’s fawning president as well as the Olympics leader’s call for ‘neutral ground’ underscores the hollowness of the global bodies’ values
I
n an ever more complex world, it is always good to have figures who can simplify things for us. A single person, making it crystal clear where they stand and what for, can be the light in the darkness that helps you navigate today’s turbulent waters.
That’s why I’m so grateful for Gianni Infantino. The man is the ultimate guide to geopolitics, and a waypost for anyone confused by the moral labyrinth they find themselves living in. Whichever way he’s pointing, you can feel confident you should be headed in the opposite direction.
Take Russia’s ongoing exclusion from international events such as Fifa tournaments and the Olympic Games. The efficacy and implementation of sporting bans and boycotts may seem a near-impossible conundrum, to be debated by wiser heads than our own. Then this week you hear Fifa’s president say he wants Russia’s ban lifted because “it has just created more … hatred”. And you remember that in December he awarded a peace prize to a man who immediately seized a Venezuelan president and threatened to invade Greenland and attack Iran.
