The day Infantino promised to 'restore' FIFA's image

In just a few days, he has gone from receiving congratulations for seeing his major project come to a somewhat successful conclusion to becoming the number one target of much of the soccer world because of a plan he had devised in secret and without the approval of those whose consent he needed. Gianni Infantino finds himself between a rock and a hard place after attempting to sell a portion of the commercial rights to the World Cup—both the men's and women's tournaments—and the Club World Cup to private entities that have nothing to do with soccer. So much so that key figures in the sport have gone so far as to accuse the current president of FIFA of blackmail and bribery to carry out his projects and have labeled him a "scoundrel" who has behaved in a "deceptive and cowardly, self-serving" manner, thinking only of his personal gain.

That last assertion—that he has behaved in a "deceptive" manner, as former Portuguese soccer player Luis Figo put it—does not align with the first words Infantino spoke immediately after becoming the head of world soccer's governing body. Those statements were made more than a decade ago and bear no resemblance whatsoever to what he attempted to do just a few days ago.

"We are going to restore FIFA's image"

On February 26, 2016, following an extraordinary assembly in Zurich, Switzerland, Infantino was appointed as FIFA's new president, succeeding Joseph Blatter and inheriting a critical situation within the organization due to the largest corruption scandal ever seen there: the so-called FIFAGate. His first goal was to "restore" the image of an institution as prestigious as FIFA, which had been completely fractured and tarnished.

"We are going to restore FIFA's image," Infantino said that day, minutes after being elected president, in remarks reported by AFP. "We have to be proud of FIFA, proud of what we will all do together. I am at a loss for words to express my emotions. I told you that I had embarked on a journey—an extraordinary journey that allowed me to meet many extraordinary people who love soccer, who live and breathe soccer. Many people who deserve for FIFA to be a respectable organization. FIFA has gone through difficult times of crisis, but with this, we're putting an end to that. We've approved reforms for good governance and transparency. We're going to earn respect through hard work and dedication."

Infantino also made a promise that, more than ten years later, all his critics have reminded him of and reproached him for having done the exact opposite: "We're going to bring soccer to FIFA and FIFA to soccer."

Soccer's rebellion and a reversal of the project

Ten years after those statements, given Infantino's intentions, it's fair to say that the FIFA president has done the exact opposite. Instead of respecting the institution's status and the hierarchy within the world of soccer, he has prioritized his personal interests, failing even to inform the confederations that make up FIFA before his intentions were made public and having worked on this behind closed doors.

This sparked a rebellion in the soccer world. Organizations and prominent figures were adamant in their opposition to the decision Infantino had reportedly made unilaterally, even issuing strong warnings such as the one issued by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which stated that none of its 55 national confederations would ever again participate in a tournament organized by FIFA if Infantino's plan were to go ahead.

Due to the flood of criticism against him, Infantino decided to backtrack and completely scrap his plan to privatize the World Cup and the Club World Cup. This whole affair has done nothing but further damage FIFA's image, at the expense of the interests of a single person: its president.