JOHN DLUDLU | How to lose friends: the case of Gianni Infantino

It’s hard to see how Gianni Infantino can survive the backlash over his ill-fated scheme to invite nonfootball interests into the beautiful game.

Since details of his secret plan, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), leaked the Fifa president has faced stiff resistance and votes of no confidence from major affiliates of the game’s global watchdog.

According to him and his supporters, FFE was meant to generate income to benefit mostly poor football playing nations. The plan, which was presented to the affiliates for consideration and voting, was only disclosed after the latest edition of the World Cup, which was hosted in North America.

But it turns out that FFE was meant to have been unveiled before the controversy-dogged tournament and had to be delayed to tie up loose ends. There was so much wrong with the plan that it would be quicker to point out what little was right.

Football could, of course, do with more financial support. Poor federations, most of which are in the Global South, need cash; some actually rely on the generosity of their star players because the money from Fifa is insufficient.

The FFE scheme, hatched in opaque circumstances, was apparently advised by investment bank JPMorgan and one of its key promoters was Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s ubiquitous son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

This week Joshua spoke for the first time after the scheme was withdrawn following Infantino’s half-hearted apology to the football community after key football federations Asia, Europe and Latin America withdrew their support for him.

This has now become an almost weekly occurrence. To say Infantino is a disappointment is an understatement. The man who was supposedly going to polish the beautiful game’s image in the wake of his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, has fallen from grace.

During the tournament he proved tone-deaf to legitimate concerns of fans, including that the tickets were overpriced and that cohost, the US, was less than welcoming to visitors from particular countries.

Instead, he bent over backwards to accommodate the wishes of Trump, whom he had inexplicably gifted a “peace prize” in the middle of a war Trump started in the Middle East.

Trump, who cynically milked the tournament’s publicity for his own benefit, is one of few people who think it is a bad idea for Infantino to fall on his sword.

Not only did Infantino keep the FFE concept secret from affiliates, he also kept it away from Fifa staff, some of whom have since distanced themselves from the idea. The plan is now unlikely to be resuscitated even in the unlikely event that Infantino survives this episode.

To make matters worse he turned to nonfootball experts, specifically investment bankers and Joshua Kushner, to cobble the scheme together, an insult to the game.

In his remarks this week, Kushner, a venture capitalist who owns Thrive Eternal, expressed regret at getting involved, claiming that had he known the political dynamics of world football he would not have gotten involved.

Still, he said he sympathised with Fifa’s rationale behind the scheme: to share the spoils of the game more equitably. Kushner also seemed to contradict Infantino’s characterisation of the FFE, saying he saw it as something to be considered by Fifa’s affiliates, not an obligation. Infantino had given affiliates a timeline to make up their minds, as if it were a take-it-or-leave proposition.

To the millions of football fans this sounds like a good reason Kushner and the investment bankers should have stayed away from something they did not understand.

There is a reason Fifa has traditionally not allowed governments to interfere in football: they don’t understand the game and it is best they keep away.

In a few weeks Infantino has proven a divisive figure, stemming largely from the disdain with which he regards his key constituency, the affiliates, which are resentful of the manner in which Fifa is nibbling away their income and are threatening to boycott some of the body’s activities. Even at the height of his plunder Blatter wasn’t this unpopular.

It is common cause that Infantino is disliked. But this is insufficient for him to be fired. Good manners don’t apply in football politics and badly run companies. In a well-run company a private conversation would be had with the board.

Even though the numbers appear stacked against him, Infantino has not yet played all his cards. He has yet to play the money card, having delivered one of the most lucrative editions of the Soccer World Cup.

This might just be his saving grace.

• Dludlu is a former editor of The Sowetan.

Business Day