He picks up a football. He turns it over in his hands, lets it spin. He toys with it. He watches it closely, almost as if it wants to speak to him (and perhaps, in silence, it does: after all, they are long-standing friends). Then, without warning, he throws it towards whoever is standing in front of him, whether a head of state or simply someone passing by. Amused, he watches the reaction of the recipient, always the same, at every latitude of the world, across all 211 FIFA federations: they laugh. The person receiving it laughs a lot. Their mood shifts instantly, markedly for the better. At that point Gianni Infantino, director and leading actor in a routine he often performs, has achieved his aim. Without needing words, or the stage of any particularly prestigious theatre, he has made clear what that ball represents: pure happiness.
President Infantino, let’s start from a near-philosophical question: what is happiness?
It is the engine of everything, including the World Cup that is about to begin.
In what sense?
Because a World Cup rekindles passions, memories, it takes us back in time. We were all children once, and we all had our first football, and cradled our first dreams. We wanted to become great players. I personally wanted to become Evaristo Beccalossi, even though he never played for the national team. I watched him with my father, we supported him together, every one of his actions lit a fire, but it was the flames of paradise, not of hell. That was when I understood the happiness of the ball, the infinite magic it carries. It has the shape of the world, that cannot be a coincidence. I miss Evaristo a lot, we had become friends.
Before becoming FIFA president, which World Cup stayed with you the most?
The one of Paolo Rossi, Paolo Rossi, Paolo Rossi. Three goals against Brazil, the “Vecio” Bearzot building a masterpiece, Italy winning the World Cup in Spain in 1982. Me, in Switzerland, proudly wearing the Azzurri shirt.
But isn’t it said that a FIFA president should not support anyone?
First of all, I was twelve… But beyond that, does someone become FIFA president, the governing body of world football, without first knowing the passion for this sport? Without feeling your heart beat during matches? Without being deeply overwhelmed by the love football generates? Come on, let’s be serious. You can support a team and remain impartial at the same time, that’s normal. Just to say: since I became president, I have never seen Italy play at a World Cup.
Fair enough. And as president, your most memorable World Cup?
Always the next one. And the one about to be played in Canada, Mexico and the United States will be the best World Cup ever, which is not a slogan, but the pure truth. 48 teams, three countries, 104 matches, from the opener Mexico–South Africa — played at the legendary Azteca — to the final on 19 July in New York. A great story to tell, to live. We start again from a remarkable final, Argentina against France in Qatar in 2022, but we want to raise the level even further, in every respect. What is about to begin will be the greatest football festival ever. “Football Unites the World” is our motto.
Football or soccer?
It is not about the word, it is about the substance. I once joked about it with my friend Tom Brady: he says football is what he played winning seven Super Bowls, I tell him he could have been a great goalkeeper rather than a fantastic playmaker, since he often had the ball in his hands. And anyway, we will experience 104 Super Bowls at the World Cup.
In what sense?
In the sense that every match will be an unprecedented spectacle.
What won’t we see at the World Cup?
Racism. We are very attentive to this, I would say almost obsessively so. And if anyone were to commit racist acts or gestures, we will be extremely tough, uncompromising in our decisions. For example, the act of covering one’s mouth while arguing with an opponent will be punished with a red card: if you have nothing to hide, you simply do not do it. And we should not forget that in May 2024, at our Congress in Bangkok, we launched the Global Stand Against Racism, which aims to ensure racism is recognised as a criminal offence in all countries of the world. We established the Players’ Voice Panel, a group of 16 FIFA Legends, men and women of different backgrounds and nationalities, led by George Weah. And there is also the universal gesture to report racism on the pitch: crossing the arms in front of the body. The fight against racism has always been a priority for me and for us. Racism is a monster.
Have you seen racism?
Let’s say that, in different times, when full integration had not yet been achieved, I saw signs at the entrance of venues saying “Fur Hunde und Italiener verboten”. No dogs and Italians allowed.
In that order?
In that order.
Tell us something that will happen at the World Cup that we do not yet know.
All players, when they arrive at their training camps, will be scanned from head to toe, to improve checks, for example in relation to possible offside situations. The projection of their bodies in the graphic systems will be calibrated on their real dimensions and shapes. In this way, the margin of error will be further reduced.
Will technology referee the matches?
Never. Matches are officiated by referees, but with technological support aligned with the times. I was there in Bari, on 1 September 2016.
In Bari?
At the San Nicola stadium, inside a small van parked outside. Inside the stadium there was a friendly between Italy and France, while outside Pierluigi Collina and I were living the first official offline test of VAR in an international match, in an improvised VAR room on wheels. That is where it all started.
Was football better or worse without VAR?
Definitely worse.
Why, during the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, will you also be surrounded by Legends?
What would football be without them? Before my arrival at FIFA, it seemed that those who had made the history of our sport were almost an inconvenience. The governing of football was focused on other things, not on football itself and its great figures. I understood that immediately, in Mexico.
Explain.
Three months after my election, there was a FIFA Congress in Mexico. Perhaps still influenced by old habits, those of the old FIFA I mean, some officials wanted to seat the Legends — great male and female players — in the back rows. I could not believe it.
And in the end?
All of them were seated in the front row, the place they deserved and still deserve. Since then, nobody has moved them again, as it should be.
Why a 48-team World Cup?
Because football is democratic, and the dream should not belong only to the usual teams. Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, the four debuting national teams, have earned on the pitch the right to be there, to be happy.
You mentioned the “old FIFA”. What do you mean? What was it?
I will answer by recalling that the United States Department of Justice, as compensation for losses suffered by FIFA due to decades of corruption in football, paid 201 million dollars to the FIFA Foundation, money seized from individuals who had enriched themselves illegally at the expense of the game.
Is it true that when you took possession of your office in Zurich, the same used by your predecessor, you found a huge safe built into the wall?
True. I never touched it, but I decided to leave it there, to remember what we must never be again.
What is your relationship with criticism?
I listen to it, I evaluate it.
Let me cite one: Gianni Infantino maintains too many relationships with politicians, particularly in the United States.
But how can you not speak to the leaders of a country hosting the World Cup? The opposite would be strange, especially given the current geopolitical situation.
Was there ever a chance of Italy being reinstated?
Honestly, never.
The 2030 World Cup will be played in Spain, Morocco and Portugal, with matches also in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Where will you be?
In 2027 there will be elections for the FIFA presidency. I will run again.
As he speaks, he picks up a ball. He turns it in his hands. He toys with it. Everything comes full circle.