Fifa is spending millions on a 24/7 social media newsroom dedicated to the "President's Vision."
By Andreas Selliaas of Idrettspolitikk.no and Lars Johnsen. Additional reporting by Philippe Auclair and Sam Kunti
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is not as suave a speaker as he may believe himself. On the eve of the 2022 World Cup, when he delivered his “Today, I feel Qatari” speech, FIFA officials defended the infamous address, arguing that the organisation’s president had been speaking from the heart. A polyglot, Infantino hides behind hollow slogans - ‘Football unites the world’ - or Instagram posts, where the comment section has been disabled.
In the age of influencers and social media platforms, Infantino, hostile to the media, channels his messaging through Instagram, often centered around photos of himself. His feed is a gallery of photo op-eds with autocratic leaders, ranging from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, but during the World Cup the focus has shifted to Infantino attending matches - crisscrossing North America on a Qatari private jet. The Fifa president attended 24 matches in the group stages alone.
Little risk is attached to his Instagram account which is heavily curated and features a disabled comments section. Previously, Infantino said he wanted as many followers as Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon.
There was a deeper truth to those words. Infantino may not be a great communicator but Fifa is spending more money to help him get his message across and polish his image than they grant many federations through the Forward progr...
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