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Tag: Infantino

  • I can’t guarantee every player will receive World Cup bonus – Infantino

    I can’t guarantee every player will receive World Cup bonus – Infantino

    FIFA president Gianni Infantino, said on Wednesday that he can’t guarantee that football federations will distribute the bonus payments promised every player at the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

    “We are moving of course in the right direction, we have been consulting with associations, with players, to try to go in the right path,” Infantino said at a  news conference.

    “We have issued these recommendations, but we have an association of associations. So whatever payments we do, we will go through the associations and then the associations will, of course, make the relevant payments to their own players,” he added.

    Football governing body FIFA will pay out $110 million in total prize money to the 32 teams at the 2023 World Cup, a significant increase compared to $30 million in 2019 and $15 million in 2015.

    Under the guarantees, each player participating in the World Cup will receive a minimum of $30,000. However, there is no mechanism to directly pay the players the money.

    During the news conference, Infantino also brushed off calls from World Cup co-hosts Australia for equal pay in football ahead of the beginning of the tournament.

    In 2022, FIFA paid a total of $440 million to the teams competing at the men’s World Cup in Qatar.

    Infantino previously said that FIFA’s goal is to equalise the prize money by the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s edition.

    On Monday the Matildas, as the Australian women’s national football team is known, criticized FIFA for not giving women the same prize money as the men.

    Asked for his view on the criticism on Wednesday, Infantino said this was a time to “focus on the positives.”

    “Today is the eve of the opening game at the Women’s World Cup…it’s a moment to focus on the positives, to focus on the happiness and the joy,” Infantino told reporters in Auckland.

    “Until the final on Aug.20, you will hear from me only positive things.”

    “If somebody’s still not happy about something, well I’m sorry. I’m happy with everything and I love everyone.”

    In a video published on Monday in which all 23 Australia squad members voiced their opinion, midfielder Tameka Yallop said, FIFA had a long way to go towards equal pay which has been achieved in Australia for the Matildas and the men’s team, known as the Socceroos.

    “Collective bargaining has allowed us to ensure we now get the same conditions as the Socceroos, with one exception.

    FIFA will still only offer women one quarter as much prize money as men for the same achievement,” she said.

    The Matilda’s reached equal pay a few years ago when the Australian FA agreed to pay the men and women the same base fee from tournament prize money.

    They are one of only very few World Cup teams to have achieved that at domestic level.

    Hosts Australia and New Zealand kick off the tournament on Thursday against Norway and Ireland, respectively. The final is scheduled for Aug. 20.

  • Infantino re-elected unopposed as FIFA president

    Infantino re-elected unopposed as FIFA president

    Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as the president of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

    The election was held on Thursday during the 73rd Congress in Kigali, as Infantino stood unopposed, making his re-election as head of football’s governing body a formality.

    Controversies surrounding him include,  the treatment of migrant workers in the run-up to last year’s World Cup in Qatar and a failed plan to play the tournament every two years.

    Infantino, however, promised record revenues in the next four-year cycle of $11 billion as he called for more football to be played around the world.

    “It is an incredible honour and privilege, and a great responsibility.

    “I promise to continue serving FIFA and football around the world.

    “To those that love me, and I know there are many, and those who hate me, I love you all,” Infantino said.

    Infantino confirmed FIFA’s income hit record levels in the last cycle from 2019-2022, but promised to substantially raise this again on the back of expanded men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments and the introduction of a 32-team Club World Cup.

    “Revenues rose to a record $7.5 billion (to 2022) in a period that was hit by COVID-19.

    “When I arrived, FIFA reserves stood at around $1 billion, today they are at almost $4 billion,” Infantino said.

    “We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of $11 billion, and the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion (more).”

    Infantino said FIFA would continue to review the transfer system to “improve transparency” and suggested the organisation might discuss a salary cap.

    “We must improve our regulations and the FIFA statutes. We will continue to evolve our good governance principles and look at the transfer system, and maybe have a discussion to improve transparency of transfer fees and salaries.

    “It might be necessary to introduce a cap, we have to think how we can do that. We will look at it with all stakeholders and see what we can do.”

    Amid the financial success of his seven years in office, Infantino has also courted controversy that has made him unpopular with some member associations.

    He accused critics of host Qatar’s human rights record of hypocrisy and racism at the World Cup.

    The tournament in the desert state led to a significant amount of political discussion around the host’s treatment of migrant labour, its approach to LGBT rights and FIFA’s threats to penalise players for political statements.

    This included the banning of the anti-discrimination “One Love” armband which drew anger from a number of quarters.

    FIFA has previously spoken about setting up a legacy fund to assist and compensate migrant workers who helped build the stadiums and other infrastructure for the World Cup.

    But the FIFA boss made no mention of it in his address, since no concrete plans have been revealed.

    He did suggest that FIFA had cleaned up its act with regards to governance.

    “Every single dollar that is being invested in projects and associations will undergo an independent audit. Money just doesn’t get lost any more.

    “That is why the institutions have regained their trust in FIFA. The Department of Justice of the United States has given us more than $200 million back that was stolen by corrupt officials. We have re-invested that in football.”

    Player welfare groups have questioned FIFA’s decision to expand the men’s World Cup from 64 to 104 games, but Infantino said there was need to be more football played around the world.

    “When I hear there is too much football, yes, maybe in some places, but not everywhere. In fact, in most parts of the world there is not enough football played.

    “We need way more and not less competitions, we want football to develop worldwide.

    “We are discussing organising a women’s Club World Cup and a FIFA World Series in March every two years, when teams are free from playing qualifiers.”

    Infantino was first elected in an Extraordinary Congress in 2016 following the resignation of his predecessor Sepp Blatter, and retained his position unopposed three years later.

    But this counts as his second term of office and he would therefore be available for a third and final term in four years’ time.

  • Infantino to seek third term as FIFA president

    Infantino to seek third term as FIFA president

    Gianni Infantino will seek a third term as FIFA president next year, he told the congress of the global football governing body in Doha on Thursday.

    “Because we are all united here and the members of FIFA are here, I wanted to tell you first,” he said.

    Infantino, 52, was first elected in 2016 to succeed disgraced former president Joseph Blatter and was re-elected in 2019.

    He was previously head of European confederation UEFA.

  • FIFA chief Infantino tests positive for COVID-19

    FIFA chief Infantino tests positive for COVID-19

    FIFA president Gianni Infantino has contracted coronavirus, the world’s governing body announced on Tuesday.

    The 50-year-old has mild symptoms and will remain in isolation for a further 10 days, FIFA said in a statement.

    “All people who came into contact with the FIFA President during the last few days have been informed accordingly and they are being requested to take the necessary steps,” the statement said. “FIFA sincerely wishes President Infantino a speedy recovery.”

    Infantino has travelled little during the coronavirus pandemic, but he attended a signing ceremony at the White House last month to mark normalised relations for Israel with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

    Infantino’s infection comes as Switzerland reports a spike in COVID-19 cases. Switzerland has reported 127,000 cases this year, with more than 23,000 since last Friday.

  • Restarting football too soon ‘irresponsible’ – FIFA

    Restarting football too soon ‘irresponsible’ – FIFA

    Restarting football too early would be “irresponsible”, says Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

    Most domestic leagues around the world are on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic while major tournaments such as Euro 2020 and the Copa America have been postponed for one year.

    “No match, no competition, no league is worth risking a single human life,” Infantino said.

    “It’s better to wait a little bit longer than to take risks.”

    Infantino, head of football’s world governing body, insisted that safety should come first.

    “I cannot stress this enough,” he told Fifa’s 211 member associations on Friday. “Our first priority, our principle, the one we will use for our competitions and encourage everyone to follow, is that health comes first.

    “Everyone in the world should have this very clear in their mind.”

    Discussions are being held around the world over when and how to restart the season.

    In addition, in some countries there are disagreements over whether players should face pay cuts.

    “It would be more than irresponsible to force competitions to resume if things are not 100% safe,” said Infantino.

  • Football will be different after coronavirus pandemic – Infantino

    Football will be totally different when it eventually resumes after the coronavirus outbreak, the head of global body FIFA Gianni Infantino said on Thursday.

    “Football will come back, and when it does, we’ll celebrate coming out of a nightmare together,” he told the Italian news agency ANSA in an interview.

    “There is one lesson, however, that both you and me must have understood: the football that will come after the virus will be totally different…(more) inclusive, more social and more supportive, connected to the individual countries and at the same time more global, less arrogant and more welcoming.”

    He added: “We will be better, more human and more attentive to true values.”

    Last week, Infantino told Italian sports media outfit Gazzetta dello Sport that it was the right time to take a step back.

    He added that it was time to reform a sport where fixture lists have become overloaded and financial resources increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few elite clubs.

    Infantino suggested there could be “fewer, but more interesting tournaments. Maybe fewer squads, but more balance. Fewer, but more competitive, matches to safeguard the health of the players.”

    Later on Thursday, Infantino told the annual congress of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) that “it is our responsibility as football administrators, first of all, to ensure football can survive and secondly move forward once again.”

    “On the international match calendar we have to look for global solutions to tackle these global problems in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity,” Infantino said in a video link from Zurich.

    “Everyone has different interests, but we must talk and put on the table topics that we perhaps didn’t discuss in the past.’’

  • FIFA president Infantino backs Wenger offside proposal

    FIFA president Infantino backs Wenger offside proposal

    FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has lent his support to introducing the ‘daylight’ principle to the offside law.

    Video Assistant Referees (VAR) decisions have caused a lot of controversy in the Premier League, with a few goals chalked off because of very fine offside margins.

    FIFA’s chief of global football development, Arsene Wenger, last week that the law should be changed so that a player is onside if any part of their body that can score a goal is behind or level with the relevant defender.

    Infantino has now spoken in favour of Wenger’s proposal.

    “I’m certainly in favour of discussing a new way of looking at the offside rule, to see if it can help, because I think the issue is more an issue of understanding,” he said at the International Football Association Board, the game’s law-making body.

    “Some of (the decisions) are very, very close and it’s difficult for the people who are watching to see whether it’s offside, so we have to look at whether we can make the offside rule clearer by having light in between.”

  • Infantino urges EPL referees to use VAR monitors

    FIFA president Gianni Infantino described referees as “heroes” and urged Premier League officials to start using pitch-side monitors before making key decisions involving VAR.

    Infantino told Sky Sports News on Friday, that he was unaware Premier League referees have not been making the final call on VAR decisions.

    The FIFA chief lauded the “difficult” work of referees on the pitch but encouraged them to “accept the help” of pitch-side monitors to enable them to play a more active role in the VAR process.

    “The job of the referee is so difficult, these guys are heroes, we are all criticising them so let’s help them and they have to accept the help.

    “They have a safety net when they are not sure or when somebody who sees the images telling them to go and check. They should go and check.”

    Despite VAR’s controversial start in the Premier League, Infantino says the system is helping football and as the technology improves, so too will the game.

    “VAR is making [football] more just and clean and if we have to wait one minute or two minutes, we have a game-changing decision which is taken correctly instead of wrongly.

    “Of course, VAR will improve, will develop, and will have automatised offsides because that’s what technology will give us today or tomorrow.

    “Offside and handball are these two situations which we need to constantly analyse and see how we can and if we can, these are difficult topics.”

     

  • Macron, Infantino booed at FIFA Women’s World Cup final ceremony

    The crowd at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final match on Sunday in Lyon booed FIFA president Gianni Infantino and French president Emmanuel Macron.
    This was as the U.S. fans demanded equal pay for the players after their team claimed a fourth global title by beating The Netherlands 2-0.
    Macron and Infantino, the head of football’s world governing body, were turned upon by the supporters as they approached the ceremony podium.
    It was a sharp contrast with the hero-like reception given to player of the match Megan Rapinoe by the 57,900 crowd.
    In spite of a recent rebound, Macron’s popularity was last at 38 percent in an Ifop poll, up 15 points since a low in December at the peak of the anti-government yellow-vest crisis.
    U.S. captain Rapinoe, the leading voice for equal pay in a sport where the men are far better paid than the women, scored the opening goal with a VAR-awarded penalty kick.
    She scored in the 61st minute at the sold-out Groupama Stadium.
    Rose Lavelle rounded off the victory eight minutes later as the Americans added to their 1991, 1999 and 2015 world titles.
    After the game, Rapinoe told reporters: “I think everyone is ready for this conversation and move to the next step. I think we’re done with: ‘Are we worth it? Should we have equal pay?’.”
    Earlier this year, members of the U.S. squad were named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the national football federation alleging gender discrimination.
    It was filed in a federal court last month and it says the women are not paid the same as their male counterparts.
    On Saturday, Rapinoe launched a scathing attack on FIFA, saying the organization did not respect the women’s game.
    Rapinoe said FIFA’s decision to allow the men’s Copa America final and Gold Cup showpiece to take place on the same day as the women’s final was “unbelievable”.
    Rapinoe shook Infantino and Macron’s hands as she received her medal.
    “It’s unbelievable to know all the people who put in so much in this group,” she said.
    “We have all our families and friends here. It’s surreal. I don’t know how to feel right now. It’s ridiculous.”

  • Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA’s president

    Gianni Infantino re-elected as FIFA’s president

    Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as president of football’s world governing body Fifa for a second term.

    The Swiss-Italian, 49, was re-elected until 2023 without opposition at Fifa’s annual congress in Paris.

    He succeeded Sepp Blatter in 2016 and has increased the number of teams at the 2026 World Cup and proposed key changes to the Club World Cup.

    Ex-president Blatter was in charge for 17 years until he was banned amid a corruption scandal in 2015.

    Infantino’s re-election was marked by a round of applause, after rules were changed earlier in the day to no longer require a vote from Fifa’s 211 members if only one candidate was standing.

    In a lengthy speech at the congress, Infantino focussed on the relative calm of his first term in charge compared to the situation he inherited.

    “Nobody talks about crisis at Fifa any more or rebuilding it from scratch,” he said.

    “Nobody talks about scandals or corruption, we talk about football. We can say that we’ve turned the situation around.

    “This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be – an organisation that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity.”