By Paul Nicholson
May 17 – Seemingly at the centre of everything FIFA president Gianni Infantino did during the FIFA Congress in Mexico City last week were his band of legends. Whether it was accompanying him on his whistle stop visits to confederations, being introduced one-by one and embraced at the opening ceremony, sitting in the front row of the Congress itself, or Infantino sitting on the bench while the icons played 9-a-side knockabout matches in the iconic Azteca Stadium, the new FIFA is embracing the old players big time.
“We will bring football back to FIFA,” he repeatedly proclaimed as though it had somehow left the organisation and its member associations completely. The legends would appear to be a big part of that solution.
The FIFA Legends programme is designed to give (selected) former top class players a bigger say in the game (because clearly lesser players do not have a valid opinion or the same ‘ownership’ status).
The legends – 30+ of them in Mexico and apparently an initial list of 200 worldwide – have three main planks of activity:
The FIFA Legends on Tour: Four two-day tours will take place in the first year, including additional events from grassroots clinics to fundraising and fan engagement.
The FIFA Legends Forum: Think-tank sessions designed to give a platform to the legends to air their views on current football affairs – the first 90-minute session was held in Mexico City and according to Infantino “the think tank was informal and positive and talked about World Cups and technology – will create a platform to hear their views on current football affairs. These views will be shared with top decision-makers, authorities and policy committees in football.
The FIFA Legends Initiatives: Members of the Legends Team will act as ambassadors in key areas such as event promotion, football development, women’s football, diversity, health and sustainability projects.
Infantino was keen to stress, after some media comment, that the Legends in Mexico City were not being paid for their time. Though someone had paid for their flights, hotels (The Hyatt), the programme they were on, and their expenses. Presumably that was FIFA, if it wasn’t the benefactor went unnamed. Whether the legends will all commit their time so generously in the future remains to be seen, and with one well-known agent accompanying them every step of the way it seems foolish to think they will come for free forever.
Jose Mourinho welcomed the initiative. “This is the first time that FIFA has called on players, which is great and very much appreciated by us,” he said. He seems to have forgetten he was a translator who turned coach, not a player, but that is perhaps splitting hairs too much for the purpose of this FIFA exercise.
“We can only understand the game better by listening to those who actually play the game – that’s the players,” he said. Certainly true if we are discussing team formation, tactics and training drills for the highest levels of the game, but they probably have not got the background of negotiating the multi-level broadcast and sponsorship deals that are really what drives FIFA forward to the highest revenue levels that will pay for this legends programme.
Quite where the legends will fit in beyond feel-good PR remains to be seen. As does their cost. For a ‘reformed’ FIFA that is supposedly putting development, youth and women at the top of its agenda, there seems to be a bit of a disconnect.
And perhaps we should not forget two of football’s greatest ever legends on the field of play – Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer – and the legacy they have left world football as decision makers off it.
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