Infantino Got $1.7M Undisclosed World Cup Payment — SkimNews
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- Gianni Infantino received $1.72 million in 2024 from FWC2026, the U.S.-based FIFA entity managing the 2026 World Cup, on top of his regular FIFA salary and benefits of 4.274 million CHF (~$4.86 million).
- The FWC2026 payment was not disclosed in FIFA's 2024 annual report, despite Article 43, paragraph 13 of FIFA's statutes requiring the president's individual compensation be made public.
- FIFA spokesperson told ESPN the organization "fully complies with all reporting requirements" and "strongly rejects any suggestion there has been a violation of FIFA's Statutes."
- Miguel Maduro, former chairman of FIFA's governance committee, told The Times the non-disclosure is "a clear contravention of the rules" and inappropriate given the statutes' transparency obligations.
- The compensation disclosure follows Infantino's Football Forward Enterprises plan to sell a 20% World Cup stake to investors led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner — a deal that prompted the heads of UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC to demand Infantino's resignation, with UEFA threatening to boycott FIFA events.
- Infantino separately drew criticism for lifting U.S. forward Folarin Balogun's World Cup red-card suspension after Donald Trump phoned him about it, allowing Balogun to play in a 4-1 round-of-16 loss to Belgium.
- The next FIFA Council meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Zurich.
Why it matters: FIFA's statutes explicitly require the president's individual compensation be made public — yet $1.72M from FWC2026 went undisclosed alongside his $4.86M regular salary, and the FIFA Council convenes Thursday in Zurich with the statute violation documented on the public record.
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