In any other walk of life, Gianni Infantino would be gone by now. Resignation tendered. Emotional speech on the soapbox preached and off into the sunset, until the next scandal takes hold and he can plan a return to the public eye.
Football governance doesn’t work like that. Infantino is yet to even contest an election, despite serving two further terms as Fifa president after replacing Sepp Blatter in 2016.
Not willing to go of his own accord, many believed the end was still nigh for the disgraced chief. After receiving the backing of senior executives in a meeting in Morocco on Wednesday, an apologetic Infantino lives to fight another day, despite Uefa, the most powerful confederation in world football, remaining unrelenting in pursuit of his head.
The English FA, the forefathers of the modern game, has withdrawn its support. Other nations have followed suit. To European eyes, even if he does not go voluntarily, Infantino’s reprieve is just a stay of execution.
Yet, the worldview is not quite so clearcut. And it is why Infantino’s hopes of at least clinging on until the election in March are rosier than they appear.
