Gianni Infantino’s Instagram feed is a gallery of some of the planet's worst rogues. His enthusiasm for Donald Trump seems to be growing as the White House smashes pillar after pillar of American democracy with volleys of unconstitutional executive orders.
By Philippe Auclair and Sam Kunti
Realpolitik demands it. There are times when circumstances dictate that personal feelings, moral judgement and even enmity should be set aside to engage with people whose ideology and actions are repulsive. Heads of global political organisations (and Fifa is one) know that, sooner or later, they will have to dialogue with populists, 'strongmen' (they're almost always men), autocrats and dictators, shake their blood-stained hands and pose for the cameras.
This is not a new paradigm, even if democracy is receding globally. As former general secretary of Fifa Jérôme Valcke said in 2013, "less democracy is sometimes better for organising a World Cup". The optics are awful, but the greater good – the good of the game, in Fifa's case – leaves little choice to do otherwise. So, yes, we all have to dine with the devil at some point, what matters is the length of the spoon. When it comes to Gianni Infantino, that spoon is so small that his nose might as well be in the bowl.
It is not his fault that he should have had to meet Vladimir Putin and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as Fifa had chosen Russia and Qatar as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups when he was still Michel Platini's general secretary at Uefa. Taking a deep breath, the same could be said for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, even if, in this case, Infantino persona...
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