By Andrew Warshaw at Wembley
February 2 – If Gianni Infantino’s chances of clinching the presidency of FIFA on February 26 were judged on promotional opportunism and slick public relations, we may as well stop taking bets now.
A stellar cast including Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello and Luis Figo accompanied the UEFA general secretary at Wembley stadium as he outlined a plan of action for his first three months in office should he win the race to succeed Sepp Blatter, while a raft of other big-name footballing figures expressed their support via a video presentation.
Admitting it was “now or never” to clean up FIFA and stressing for the umpteenth time that there were no deals in place with other candidates, Infantino defended using €500,000 of UEFA funds to pay for his globetrotting campaign. “It is budgeted for, it is accounted for, mainly for flights,” he insisted. “I’ve been very open about that.”
Whilst much of his one-hour press conference was fairly routine stuff in terms of banging the drum about being the best candidate for the job, there were some new and interesting revelations.
Never has FIFA’s general secretary come from outside Europe since it was founded in 1904 but Infantino wants to end that trend.
“What we want to do is open the doors of the FIFA administration to the most able people around the world,” he told his audience as he unveiled 11 key points he would prioritise during his first 90 days in charge. Well, 10 actually because he plans, intriguingly, to keep the 11th secret until unveiling it on election day.
“I am convinced the general secretary of FIFA should not be a European. Why not an African? There are many capable people in Africa, we have to open the doors of FIFA to men and women from all over the world.”
Mention of an African number two at FIFA was not just a throwaway line. The Confederation of African Football will decide at the end of this week who to endorse and Infantino’s words were carefully chosen to massage their collective egos. The perceived wisdom is that whoever woos the 54-strong African bloc most successfully will almost certainly sneak over the line.
Other specifics in Infantino’s 11-point plan include the implementation of good governance and compliance reforms, strategy meetings with member associations to take place in autumn of this year, “concrete reform” of the transfer system and consultation with key commercial partners “in a bid to bring trust back to the market”.
Yet there were also some awkward moments which Infantino handled with varying degrees of effectiveness.
How did he feel about staging his media jamboree at Wembley when the English FA had not yet officially announced who they will back? “I’m pretty confident about England but I fully respect the procedure of going through its board before deciding,” he replied.
Then there was the burning issue of Infantino’s plans to massively increase development funds. How could he possibly find the $1.2 billion he says he would distribute across FIFA’s 209 federations and six confederations? Many football financial experts say Infantino’s sums just don’t add up. Fellow candidate Sheikh Salman, without mentioning Infantino by name, has even suggested that promises of unrealistic increases could render FIFA bankrupt.
“If there is one thing I know about, it’s figures,” countered Infantino who wants ultimately to earmark 50% of FIFA’s income for development projects which would cost around $2.5 billion.
Currently the figure is 18% so what would he have to cut, even to find $1.2billion?
“Is it normal that only 18% of revenues are distributed for development?” he responded before identifying, for the first time and somewhat controversially, where the money will come from: slashing World Cup and Congress organisational costs and streamlining staffing levels.
“I’m a man of numbers. There is no problem in distributing $1.2 billion when revenue is $5 billion. I know how much it costs to organise a European Championship so by definition I know inside out how much it costs to organise a World Cup. It’s somewhat strange that the World Cup costs around three times more than the Euros even though it only has four more venues.”
“I know too how much it costs to organise a Congress. There are cuts that can be made in the administration of FIFA. FIFA and UEFA have more or less similar numbers of staff, FIFA maybe a little bigger. Yet the cost of the FIFA administration is twice as much. “
Infantino later warmed to the same theme on Sky: “What should FIFA do with the $5bn it makes from a World Cup? Pay officials or executives? No, It must be distributed to football. At UEFA we distribute $600 million to our associations from the Champions League. For FIFA to distribute $1.2 billion, it is not a lot, just 25%. My track record in UEFA speaks for itself. The way UEFA manages its money flows and distribution of money is very transparent, people know my name in the business, they know they can trust me, and I will not deceive them.”
Infantino was careful not to pass judgment on the current eight-year bans imposed on Blatter and Michel Platini, who will resume as UEFA president if he manages to clear his name on appeal.
But when it came to his controversial idea of allowing full regions, let alone neighbouring countries, to host the World Cup, he was unequivocal.
“We should not exclude the vast majority of countries in the world from the dream of being able to organise at least part of a World Cup,” he said. “It is no longer responsible to ask one single country … to build all these facilities which in the end become white elephants that nobody uses.”
Figo, initially a candidate himself at the last election – albeit a token one who withdrew before the May ballot – told reporters: “I think we are in a crucial moment right now. People need to think whether they want things to continue in this situation or if they want a change. If you see the other candidates, he’s the right person to make that change.”
Mourinho, back amongst an English media throng for the first time since being fired by Chelsea, offered similar backing for Infantino. “I think he’s very capable, very experienced, with a complete knowledge of everything around football and its organisation. I think he’s the one. I am here with a real feeling that I am supporting somebody that can do really well.”
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