FIFA President Gianni InfantinoGETTY IMAGES
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to "sell off the rights to two new FIFA competitions" for $25B "has been revealed as being just a stepping stone for a movement of all FIFA’s competition rights," including the World Cup and its archive, into a newly-created Swiss company that he would chair, according to Paul Nicholson of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. The "full extent of Infantino’s duplicity and lack of transparency" was unveiled by newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcaster WDR, which revealed that complete rights to the World Cup, satellite and network transmissions, archives, movies and videos, video games and merchandising "would be handed over to the new rights holders." The new information "reveals how little Infantino has shared with the FIFA Council," which he "tried to railroad into a deal he said had a 60-day time limit but which was still on the table once that deadline passed." FIFA now has a Working Group examining the deal, "a group that is, remarkably, chaired by Infantino himself." The backers behind the deal are, as previously reported, SoftBank and London-based investment company Centricus Partners. Both "have strong ties to Saudi Arabia" and are "believed to be a front for the Saudi money." As well as a new Club World Cup and "some form of a global Nations League" to replace the Confederations Cup, the deal reportedly includes all World Cup rights. All would be funneled through the specially-created "FIFA Digital Corporation," of which FIFA would hold a nominal 51%. Infantino would be installed as chair of the company, "arguably a more influential and powerful position in world football" than president of FIFA, and "certainly more lucrative personally" than the annual $2M plus bonus he has been receiving (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 11/19).
'OMINOUS OFFER': DEUTSCHE WELLE reported German FA (DFB) President Reinhard Grindel urged Infantino to "put all the facts and information on the table" about his plans for the sporting body. Grindel, who was "among the first people to raise concerns about Infantino's plans," said, "It can't be, that every day there are new rumors and speculation." He added that the problem with the project is that "even after eight months, we are still speculating on the exact basis of this ominous offer." Grindel and others "have repeatedly rejected a vote on Infantino's ambitious project without knowing the details" (DW, 11/17).
