Gianni Infantino preserves modesty. The FIFA president likes to show off. He likes to be talked about. He likes to put his ideas forward. This is not new.
His latest trick is to (over)sell the future Club World Cup, which is to be held in Miami next summer, with thirty-two teams entered. If FIFA is struggling to find sponsors and broadcasters and the competition is widely criticized from all sides, notably by players’ unions, to the point of calling into question its performance, the international federation pretends to move forward.
Last week, she presented the trophy which will be awarded to the winner of this Club World Cup. And on this one, surprise, a text is engraved. It refers to the origins of the project.
“Today we are witnesses of a new era. The Golden Era of Club Football: The Club World Cup Era. The pinnacle of all club competitions. Inspired by FIFA President Gianni Infantinothe competition, organized for the first time in 2025, eclipses all its predecessors.”
In other words, on the trophy made of 24 carat gold, Gianni Infantino saw fit to put himself forward as the sole initiator of the project. He also had his signature written there.
The site specializing in football affairs Inside World Football recalls, however, that all this was originally thought up by former President Sepp Blatter and the Japanese communications agency at the beginning of the century.
Their name, however, is not listed anywhere.
