Gianni Infantino's role as Fifa president has long combined the trappings of global diplomacy with the administration of world football, but recent weeks have placed unprecedented scrutiny on how he conducts both.
The Swiss-Italian official was recently pictured on the tarmac in Cali, Colombia, greeted by Ramon Jesurun, president of the Colombian Football Federation, ahead of the inauguration of the country's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella. He was joined by Alejandro Dominguez, head of Conmebol, South America's governing football body. Such appearances have become emblematic of Infantino's tenure, one defined by close relationships with heads of state and travel befitting a national leader rather than a sports administrator.
Infantino frequently uses a Qatar Airways executive jet made available to him, which allowed him to attend up to three matches a day during the 2026 World Cup. His movements often resemble a head-of-state motorcade, complete with police escorts, as seen this week in Rabat, Morocco, where he convened select Fifa management board members to discuss the now-abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise plan — a proposal to sell 21% of Fifa's commercial and ticketing operations to a private equity firm.
That plan has proven the most damaging episode of his presidency. Uefa has threatened to boycott Fifa tournaments in protest, a stance that will face its first real test when the Under-20 World Cup begins in Poland in 29 days. Despite apologizing and vowing to press on, Infantino appears to retain considerable support outside Europe, complicating any effort to remove him.
Infantino's salary has also drawn attention. He now earns roughly £4 million annually — a £2.2 million base salary plus a confirmed £1.8 million bonus — nearly triple what he earned upon taking office in 2016, when his pay stood at about £1.3 million. He also receives an annual expense allowance of £20,500. By comparison, his predecessor Sepp Blatter earned £2.6 million in his final year leading Fifa.
Much of the recent criticism stems from Infantino's close alignment with US President Donald Trump. In May 2025, Infantino arrived two hours late to the Fifa Congress in Paraguay after joining Trump on a Middle East diplomatic tour, prompting Uefa to accuse him of prioritizing