Infantino came to wider public attention, and attracted further criticism, during this summer’s World Cup, which was staged in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

The tournament made headlines before a ball was kicked, with visas to the United States delayed – and even denied – for supporters, coaching staff and officials.

In May, Iran’s base for the tournament was moved to Mexico after the US made it clear it did not want to host the team because of political tensions between the two nations.

That was followed by Somali referee Omar Artan, one of 52 officials appointed to work at the tournament, being refused entry when he arrived at Miami International Airport.

Fifa refused to intervene on Artan’s behalf, saying it was “not involved in the host country’s immigration process”.

When the football did eventually begin, Infantino’s relationship with Trump was thrust into the spotlight when the US President asked Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension.

USA forward Balogun was sent off during the lat-32 tie against Bosnia-Herzegovina but was cleared to feature in the next round after an unprecedented intervention from Trump, which drew widespread criticism.

The fallout from the World Cup continued earlier this week as Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina over its behaviour after the final defeat by Spain and throughout the tournament.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, Infantino offered all 211 of Fifa’s member associations $40m (£30m) if they backed his controversial plans to sell off stakes in the organisation’s major competitions – including the World Cup.

The plans, which have prompted Uefa nations to agree to boycott all future Fifa competitions if the proposal is passed, would see Fifa create a commercial subsidiary to run its main events. External investors would then be able to buy stakes in the company.

Despite the controversies, one fact remains: there is still no meaningful opposition to Infantino.

While the 55-year-old may face criticism in Europe, for the rest of the world he has made a clear difference. Yes, it is about money. But money for football.

He has enriched some of the poorest and smallest footballing nations, proving funding through infrastructure and development.

Infantino has been true to his word that Fifa would be transparent – publishing the salaries of all top executives and keeping funds within football.

After being re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, he is approaching another election year in 2027.

Infantino will be able to stand again, even though Fifa statutes limit the president to a maximum of three terms.

Almost half of the 211 votes are held by Asia and Africa – two regions that have benefited from the hugely increased finances.

A version of this article was first published in February 2026

FIFA insists “nobody is selling football” amid criticism of its decision to launch a consultation on selling stakes in a World Cup commercial entity to private investors.

However, football’s global governing body stopped short of withdrawing the controversial plan and insisted it would press ahead with the consultation period.

UEFA reacted furiously when the plans to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) first emerged in media reports in The Times and the Financial Times on Tuesday.

Less than 48 hours later, UEFA’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any FIFA tournament until the plan was withdrawn. CONCACAF, the confederation representing 41 nations from North and Central America, along with the Caribbean, also made clear its opposition to FIFA’s plan, saying it “rejected the proposal”.

In a statement released on Friday morning, FIFA said: “We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday.

“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.

⁠”Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”

The statement continued: “FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations (MAs) have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself.

“Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has publicly backed the plan, with an investor group led by Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner – the brother of United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – waiting in the wings to secure a minority stake in the new venture.

However, promises of huge returns to national associations if FFE goes ahead could surely not be honoured if the men’s and women’s World Cups took place without European involvement, even if Infantino could still muster majority support for FFE.

European and world leagues are also opposed to the plans – fearing that commercial imperatives will drive FIFA to hold bigger and more frequent tournaments in the future, eating even further into domestic schedules.

UEFA’s opposition to the plan, in its words, is “unanimous and unequivocal”.

“No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” European football’s governing body stated.

FIFA’s statement added that “each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future”.

‘Infantino is in a hole and he needs to stop digging’

Analysis from Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:

“It is a desperate, tone-deaf statement that was issued in the middle of the night from FIFA’s Zurich bunker. It’s very interesting that it doesn’t mention their president by name.

“The way I read this is that this is a statement from Gianni Infantino; it’s not necessarily a FIFA statement. How many people inside FIFA actually agree with what he is doing?

“He’s in a hole and he needs to stop digging. He needs to start reading the room. He needs to start accepting the fact his power is starting to ebb away and he needs to start by apologising to football, to football fans all around the world – and he also needs to start apologising and explain himself to the confederations and the presidents of the 211 member associations.

“And he needs to stop blaming the media. What is this crazy obsession he’s got? He seems to have picked it up from President Donald Trump, where he thinks it’s a good idea to keep lashing out at the media. He seems to somehow think that is going to help him.

“The reporting that has been done this week, which was led by The Times and the Financial Times has been completely and utterly accurate. And if it wasn’t for this reporting, there wouldn’t be this furore that we have now and we wouldn’t know the facts we know now.

“I suggest Infantino needs to change course. He needs to wake up and fully understand the mess he has created for himself and he needs to start saying sorry because I think that’s the only way he’s going to be able to save himself.”

Is there a way out for Infantino?

Analysis from Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:

“Infantino has been in plenty of tight spots and he has managed to extricate from them. But I think he’s in big, big trouble now. I think this is the biggest crisis he’s faced – and it’s all of his own making.

“The best way for him to survive, he seems to think, is to pretend this is all just a democratic process, what’s happening now is just a consultation, the 211 FAs can decide whether to go ahead with this plan, and if they don’t, no problem at all, it’s all been a storm in a teacup.

“Other people, I think, would advise him to come out and say sorry, then lie low for a while, maybe ride it out and maybe he could be re-elected as FIFA president unopposed next March, but that doesn’t seem to be what he’s doing.

“I’m not sure he can carry on down this road of blaming the media and carrying on with the consultation process. I’m not sure he understands the strength of feeling against him – not just over this, but over lots of things he’s done since he’s been FIFA president.”

Cameron Norrie raced into his first semi-final of 2026 with a 6-1 6-0 thrashing of Bernard Tomic at the Los Cabos Open.

Britain’s Norrie had been on a six-match losing streak before arriving in Mexico but has strung together three successive straight-set victories to set up a last-four clash with defending champion Denis Shapovalov.

Tomic, who reached the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying, held serve in the opening game of the match but then lost the next 12 as Norrie completed the rout in just 50 minutes.

Norrie said: “I’m pleased with the result. I was very solid, I returned well, I made a lot of tough balls when I needed to, and I kept him moving. I enjoyed the match, and it’s nice to go to bed a little bit earlier.

“It was a tough one at the French Open. I overtrained a little bit, but good learning. And then I lost a couple of tough matches at Wimbledon and Queen’s, and it was a while for me to get my confidence back.

“To get a win here meant a lot. I took a lot of confidence from that and I was just able to play, not thinking about too much, just enjoying myself.”

The fifth-seeded Norrie will face the only other remaining seed in the draw, Shapovalov, after the Canadian beat Dalibor Svrcina in straight sets.

“I watched his match,” Norrie said of Shapovalov. “He’s really confident at the moment.

“He’s obviously the defending champion, so he likes the conditions a lot. And when he’s confident, he’s one of the toughest guys in the world to play.

“But I’m going to focus on myself, enjoy tonight, and get ready for tomorrow.”

The other semi-final sees Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong take on Frenchman Arthur Gea, who upset third seed Francisco Cerundolo.

Watch live coverage of the Mubadala DC Open and Los Cabos Open this week on Sky Sports Tennis. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW