Fifa is splashing 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 programme over the same period of time. The strategy has borne fruit. Today, the Fifa president has 4,9 million followers on Instagram. Ten Toes Media have been instructed that likes and numbers matter to Fifa and its boss.
In March 2025, the London-based sports marketing agency, which counts Uefa, Arsenal and Harry Kane among its previous clients, was rewarded with a 2.25 million pound contract over twenty-two months to run Infantino’s Instagram account. First reported by French newspaper Le Monde, Josimar has gained access to the contract, which details exactly how FIFA and Infantino want to be promoted on social media. Josimar sent questions to FIFA and the FIFA president regarding the purpose and content of the agreement, but received no response.
The agreement, signed by Fifa’s COO Kevin Lamour and Director of Communications Kevin Farrelly, runs from March 2025 to December 2026. It aims to, among other things, “Safeguard (FIFA & the President’s image, raise the profile of the organisation).” It explicitly states that storytelling must be “in line with the President’s Vision”.
In broad terms,the contract details that the “Channel operations” require “24/7 availability through at least two managers across two key time zones – Asia and Europe.” At Brazil – Japan, two social media handlers were on hand to ensure Infantino would be captured well for Instagram.
What follows is a breakdown of the cost of Ten Toes Media “Services Fee” charged to Fifa.
“The net remuneration shall amount to a total of two million, five hundred and fifty-one thousand, five hundred and forty-one British Pounds Sterling (GBP 2,365,694) inclusive of VAT, if applicable (the “Services Fee”) for 22 months of services and shall be allocated as follows:
• GBP 283,560, per year for social media consultancy and account direction, amounting to the equivalent of 1.5 FTE in volume;
• GBP 283,560, per year for senior management of channels; this may be insourced by FIFA during the course of this cooperation and invoiced on a pro rata temporis basis by the Services Provider amounting to the equivalent of 1 FTE in volume;
• GBP 635,172, per year for channel management and operations.
• GBP 863,402, for Social Media Newsroom Operations, amounting to the equivalent of 7 FTE in volume. This workforce is expanded by freelancers that are handled by Services Provider under compensation from FIFA for their salaries and a management fee of 9% on their salaries.
• Provision of GBP 300,000, exclusive of VAT for Social Media Amplification Strategy.
Speaking to Le Monde, Fifa denied that the agency primarily works with a single social media account. “It is incorrect and misleading to suggest that a provider mainly works with one social media account,” stated Fifa.
Sources with knowledge of the agreement told Josimar that the deal was initially supposed to focus on Gianni Infantino’s Instagram account, but was altered to also include FIFA as an organisation. Fifa also threatened legal action if the newspaper published the contents of the contract. At the same time, Fifa argued that using external communication agencies is common practice among large international organisations, as they provide greater flexibility and lower personnel costs during major events like the World Cup.
According to the contract, Ten Toes Media is responsible for: Strategy and consultancy for FIFA’s social media. Management of FIFA’s official channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Support for FIFA’s senior management channels. Production of text, images, video, and graphics. Monitoring and moderation of comments. Use of influencers to increase reach and engagement. Traffic reporting and analysis.
After attending Spain’s win against Austria, Infantino said on Instagram, emphasizing his multilingual skills: “Hoy, Viva España.” He flew to Vancouver for Switzerland’s 2-0 defeat of Algeria. Hours after the match, his Instagram account had not been updated yet. At least, he knew that a team of social media experts was hard at work – and at no mean price.
Fifa and Ten Toes Media did not reply to Josimar’s questions.
This article was originally published in Norwegian on josimar.no
