It is not surprising that whoever is in charge of world football’s governing body should have to dine with the devil on occasion.
Gianni Infantino, Fifa’s beleaguered president, is following the example set by his predecessor Sepp Blatter; but if Blatter enjoyed the pomp and circumstance attached to his role, he did not actively seek out the company of many of the world’s most unsavoury autocrats.
Infantino, who was elected to the job in February 2016, hasn’t sent back the “Order of Friendship” medal Vladimir Putin pinned on his jacket at the Kremlin three years later. He counts Rwandan de facto dictator Paul Kagame as one of his closest allies in Africa. He has presented personalised Fifa football jerseys and mementos to an impressive gallery of “strongmen”, from Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni to Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev. He appears to have a penchant for populist leaders such as Narendra Modi and Javier Milei.
Then there is Donald Trump.
Since Joe Biden lost the 2024 US presidential election, Infantino has nailed his colours to the Maga mast and his behaviour has become noticeably more erratic and reckless – culminating in this summer’s World Cup and his disastrous efforts to sell off the tournament, linked to a member of the extended Trump family.
