Two weeks ago, Gianni Infantino was wrapping up a lucrative World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He was looking at another unopposed election for a final four-year term as FIFA president. He basically had nothing to worry about.
Then, in a totally self-inflicted act of greed, Infantino tossed away all the good will he had throughout the global soccer governing community when he attempted to sell a 20 percent stake in FIFA. Infantino's own goal led to UEFA voting to boycott FIFA tournaments (including next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil). FIFA ultimately scrapped the idea amid the outrage, but the damage was done.
And now, Infantino is reportedly trying to bribe his way back into the good graces of federations.
According to The Times, Infantino
offered Morocco hosting rights to the 2030 World Cup final in exchange for the federation's public support. Morocco is co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal (with centennial matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). Via The Times:
Sources have told The Times that Infantino has promised the final will indeed be there instead of the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid — Spain, Portugal and Morocco are co-hosting the tournament, with three matches taking place in South America.
Infantino’s opponents say any decision taken by him about the final will not be binding and can be changed by his replacement. Fifa did not respond when approached for comment.
Now, even without Infantino's promise, there was a good chance that Morocco would have been awarded the 2030 final anyway over Madrid. The nation is currently constructing a 115,000-seat stadium in Casablanca called the Grand Stade Hassan II, which is set to be the largest soccer-specific stadium in the world. As we've seen in recent tournaments, seating capacity is a major driving forcein FIFA's decisions.
But the fact that Infantino was attempting to circumvent the normal process of determining tournament sites — it speaks to how quickly he's lost support as FIFA president.
And just as FIFA's Folarin Balogun decision corrupted the USMNT-Belgium match, a World Cup final in Casablanca would be immediately tied to this closed-door maneuvering.
It's not a great look for Infantino at all.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Gianni Infantino reportedly promised Morocco the 2030 World Cup final for help saving his job
