The president of world football’s governing body is fighting for his idea of having the World Cup held every two years. But his sales forecasts are met with skepticism, and his statements about boat people trigger a storm of indignation.
Irritated with statements about African boat people: Fifa President Gianni Infantino
These are not good times for the big populists of this world. In the US, Donald Trump has been voted out, in the UK Boris Johnson is mired in the quarrels over lockdown parties, and in Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has lost all luster because of his devastating corona policy. Not even Silvio Berlusconi is coming back. It almost seems as if politics is becoming more serious again.
The times are changing, only in football there is still Gianni Infantino. Undeterred, the Fifa President tries to streamline complex relationships as much as possible and present very simple solutions to very big problems in the often underestimated populist art.
On Wednesday, the Swiss spoke before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe about his plans to hold the World Cup every two years in the future, i.e. twice as often as before. He said: “We need to give Africans hope that they don’t have to come across the Mediterranean to perhaps find a better life here or, more likely, death at sea. We have to give them opportunities and dignity.”
A storm of indignation
Since Infantino was elected to office, he has employed a variety of communications experts, both inside and outside Fifa. It is not always immediately obvious who currently enjoys the President’s trust and who has already signed off. In this respect, too, there are certain parallels to Trump, who probably changed his staff a little more often. What is certain is that no PR manager was able to protect Infantino from the storm of indignation that his statements about boat people unleashed.
Good populists know how far they can go in simplifying. Of course, World Cup participation in underdeveloped countries can trigger euphoria for a short time. They also flush some money into association coffers, which in the best case benefits the youth work. But it would be naïve to expect more. Cameroon and Senegal even reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1990 and 2002 and took part in the title fights again, and yet both countries have to struggle with poverty problems to this day. That didn’t change even if the title fights took place twice a year.
In the video you will find the recording of the speech given by Fifa President Gianni Infantino to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Wednesday.
A few hours after Infantino’s appearance, Fifa published a relativization on Twitter, which, however, mainly underlined his intentions to get actively involved in world politics. Infantino was now quoted as saying that everyone who is in a leadership position has a responsibility to improve the situation of people in the world. It is important to offer people more opportunities, also in Africa, but not only there. This was a general comment, without direct reference to the World Cup rhythm.
Occasionally, the Fifa President reminds of his predecessor Joseph Blatter in his remarks about dreams and hopes in Africa, but not only there. He even allowed the title fights to take place on the continent in 2010 and still flirted with the Nobel Peace Prize in vain.
Just before Christmas, Infantino promised the national associations a lot of money if they agreed to his plans. Based on a study by Nielsen, he calculated that Fifa sales could add up to 11.4 billion dollars within four years if the World Cup took place every two years. For comparison: Fifa expects sales of 5.4 billion from 2019 to 2022, soon it will be 7 billion due to the already decided expansion of the title fights to 48 countries.
The additional plus of 62 percent with a rhythm doubling would be significant. And Fifa announced that the money would not remain in the head office, but would be distributed generously. “All member associations would benefit from the higher sales,” she wrote.
An overly optimistic forecast
But the promise did not trigger any euphoria, which seems easy to explain. There are increasing indications that interest in football is on the wane, which is why the forecast seemed overly optimistic. It seems most plausible that matchday income could almost double. However, anyone who expects increases of 64 percent in media rights and 44.6 percent in sponsorship must largely ignore how hard television stations and companies are haggling with Fifa today. For years, world football’s governing body has found it difficult to attract new donors in the West.
In short: Many protagonists do not want to believe in a rain of money until now.
At their zenith, populists distinguish themselves as charismatic speakers who cast a spell over the people, or at least the members of parliament. In the case of Infantinos, it would be the association presidents who make decisions at Fifa congresses.
Infantino is a good speaker, but even here his record has recently been mixed. When he presented his optimistic sales forecasts at a virtual special summit in December, various officials were shown. At least one of them, Marvin Iseke from the Pacific island of Guam, slouched in his colorful armchair. He slept soundly.