FIFA's plans to sell off shares of the World Cup have been scrapped after facing massive criticism. European football's governing body UEFA has also called for Infantino's resignation, according to The Telegraph.
One of those who worked closely with Gianni Infantino is Lars-Christer Olsson. The Swede was UEFA's top executive between 2003 and 2007. During the same period, Infantino was responsible for the legal department at UEFA.
"We worked closely and at first it was obvious that he was incredibly ambitious and skilled. I know people talked about how hard he worked," says Lars-Christer Olsson.
Maneuvered out Lennart Johansson
The UEFA president during those years was another Swede, Lennart Johansson, but in the 2007 election he lost out to the Frenchman Michel Platini.
The election of Platini attracted attention because FIFA's then-president Sepp Blatter had supported Lennart Johansson until a few months before the election, when he sided with Platini. According to Lars-Christer Olsson, Infantino was also part of the power play behind the scenes.
I only understood in retrospect that Infantino supported Platini even though he was employed under Lennart Johansson. Then I realized that he could not be trusted.
Among other things, Olsson believes that Infantino offered positions in UEFA to those associations that promised to vote for Platini as president.
The Scottish Football Association, for example, was promised the position of general secretary at UEFA. That was the case for a couple of years before Infantino took over that role, he says.
Wants to reform Fifa
In March 2027, FIFA will hold its 77th Congress in Morocco. It will be decided then whether Infantino will be given the confidence to lead the organization for another four years. Lars-Christer Olsson hopes for a new president, but above all would like the international football federation to be fundamentally reformed and for the presidency to rotate between the various confederations instead.
"It would counteract the possibility of building up these corrupt structures. Then you get a strong administration that is based on principles instead of big presidential campaigns where you promise things to get elected and are indebted to those who vote for you," he says.
