Or, as it’s currently spelled, “Gianni Infantino.”
There is no better way to describe the embattled FIFA president, who committed what might go down as the costliest own goal in soccer history. Like Icarus ignoring the warnings of his father, Daedalus, and flying his wax wings fatally close to the sun, Infantino finally pushed the limits of his greed too far. When his self-authored plan to sell off parts of the World Cup to private investors was leaked in simultaneous stories broken by The Times of London and the Financial Times, the backlash was stunning, not simply in its swiftness, or even in its force of outrage, but in its near unanimity among soccer stakeholders around the world.
Infantino’s hubris could — and absolutely should — cost him his job. What seemed unthinkable in the wake of the most financially successful World Cup on record, with a reported $15 billion in revenue from games in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, seems all but inevitable now, with Infantino facing daily calls to step down. But the man is nothing if not overconfident, and he remains unwilling to loosen his grip on the strings of power.
Hubris. Defined in modern dictionaries as exaggerated pride or self-confidence, the concept dates to ancient Greece, whose gods punished humans daring to overstep their limitations and assume godlike status. No one is asking for Infantino’s literal head, but metaphorically, the chorus grows louder. From threats to boycott future World Cups by the likes of UEFA or votes of no-confidence from CONCACAF, from rescinded support for Infantino’s reelection next year to charges of blackmail by Jordan’s national soccer federation, a most recent punch packed a new level of emotional heft.
Here is the opening line from La Liga soccer legend and onetime Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo in an op-ed he penned for the Daily Mail: “I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go.
“What I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behavior I have ever witnessed … Infantino has debased the office of FIFA president that he promised to elevate. He has lied, deceived, and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve … It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now.”
Infantino reportedly held a crisis meeting with European soccer leaders on Wednesday, but nothing appears to be enough to stem the floodgates that opened after this latest power move, the one that would have created a separate entity to oversee events such as the World Cup, and to allow private investors in on that action. Done without consultation with any of his fellow FIFA decision makers, leaked, as The Athletic reported, because Infantino couldn’t help but boast about it before an official announcement, awarded without competition to the brother of the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, this was Infantino’s bridge too far.
Add to the bills Infantino reportedly hasn’t paid, to the peace prize we know he invented, the ridiculously expensive, complicated ticket system he oversaw, the red card suspensions in which he intervened and the denied visas in which he didn’t, and some around him have had enough, finally finding their spines, and their voices. People within his own orbit resigned, including adviser Carlos Cordeiro, whose parting shot described Infantino’s plan as “a bad deal for FIFA’s member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game.”
Soccer is the world’s game, reaching corners of the globe that could be well-served by FIFA’s money (such as the $5 billion it already has in reserves) if Infantino were actually motivated by the essence of what is truly the people’s sport. Instead, he’s like those avaricious UEFA leaders who wanted to create a super league, one that made the rich richer. They were thankfully drowned out by the outrage of the very fans whose passions helped make them so rich in the first place.
Last Friday night, Infantino had no choice but to hear the outrage, too, and give up his personal super league.
His statement: “Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place. Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
Unite and improve? More like divide and conquer. He should be stopped.
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her @Globe_Tara.