Infantino clearly wants to see FIFA making billions so he and many others can pocket millions legally. But the only way for this to happen in a non-corrupt way, given that FIFA is non-profit and therefore requires a lot of questionable operations, is to turn FIFA into a business like NFL / MLS.
The problem with that is that it then it is no longer a sport, rather a... business.
UEFA letter is spot on.
jmathai 23 minutes ago [-]
The experience interacting with FIFA is so terrible already. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if it turned into a profit machine.
CodingJeebus 16 minutes ago [-]
Agreed, the tickets to the tournament this year were just outrageously priced. Football is historically a working class sport, but $1,000 to watch a team like DR Congo in the group stage is next level criminality. And it's only going to get worse from here.
curun1r 22 seconds ago [-]
FIFA looked at this World Cup as an experiment. They wanted to see whether turning the monetization knob all the way to 11 would encounter significant resistance or whether fans would still watch/attend. The US, with its plethora of expensive stadiums and lax regulatory environment for price gouging compared to Europe, was the perfect testing environment. They upped the number of teams to 48 to get more games, used dynamic ticket pricing, added hydration breaks for more commercials in markets that would allow it and added a few other income streams. All this more than doubled their profits because, and this is the important part going forward, fans didn’t push back. They complained, but the still came/watched.
So this will now be the new norm. Host countries will be ones where laws don’t prohibit gouging fans. They’ll come up with creative solutions to meet the rotation requirement like the upcoming host a couple games in South America farce that’s allowing them to go to Saudi Arabia after that. They’ll continue to push the boundaries of decency until they get sufficient pushback.
12 minutes ago [-]
javier2 27 minutes ago [-]
For Infantino, they reckon his salary can go from 6M to 60M under this new org…
oliwarner 14 minutes ago [-]
They just made $15bn.
jimbokun 6 minutes ago [-]
Which is clearly not enough.
brunoborges 3 minutes ago [-]
The point is not how much it made, it is how to transfer that wealth (whether 6B or 60B) out of a non-profit into someone else's account without looking like, or literally being, a criminal.
ardit33 19 minutes ago [-]
They also got so greedy that even EA couldn't deal with them anymore and they ended up destroying the Fifa videogame franchise
tmgldn 16 minutes ago [-]
Imagine being more money hungry than EA - a company which makes billions from gaslighting children into gambling money on getting their favourite players.
seviu 20 minutes ago [-]
FIFA is also a terrible employer
Got friends working for them as developers. They ran away. In months
jackbravo 13 minutes ago [-]
Are you talking about EA or FIFA?
lossolo 6 minutes ago [-]
> and many others
Trump and Kushners
"Joshua Kushner is now the kingpin in driving the sale of the World Cup to investors and family ties are tight around the project"[1]
What's new? I thought it has been known as a big-money thing for some time now.
jimbokun 4 minutes ago [-]
The new thing is trying to take the organization from a non-profit to a corporation. Mainly so the executives can increase their already large compensation apparently.
Interesting parallels to OpenAI.
glitchc 27 minutes ago [-]
FIFA made $~15 billion USD this World Cup, roughly double what they made in Qatar in 2022. There are many low-hanging fruit that can be optimized to increase that revenue by 10x.
haunter 26 minutes ago [-]
The difference that FIFA ran the whole tournament now. There was no Local Organizing Committee (LOC) like with every single previous event.
overfeed 14 minutes ago [-]
I didn't realize the commercial-block-sized "hydration breaks" were that profitable.
For a second, I thought the Americanization[1] of fùtbol would be done gradually and no one would complain as we'd be slowly boiled. I'm glad the corrupt bastards got greedy/impatient and took a big swing.
1. Sports as business first, catering to owners first, sponsors second, broadcasters, and then lastly fans. IMO non-profit sports organizations are the best model for fans, who I identify the most with.
triceratops 37 minutes ago [-]
This is so highly unusual even sports-allergic HN wants to discuss it. It's like a religious schism in some sense.
xhevahir 30 minutes ago [-]
It's about brazen corruption in one of the world's most famous institutions. Taking an interest in it isn't as irrational as all that.
coffeebeqn 30 minutes ago [-]
I don’t know whos on Infantinos side on this
tverbeure 7 minutes ago [-]
There are 200+ participating countries. Many of those are on his side, because they’re tiny and easy to bribe: a few million is significant for them and often that money can be siphoned into corrupt pockets.
That said, a World Cup without any of the 55 UEFA countries wouldn’t make sense commercially.
jimbokun 2 minutes ago [-]
But the USA men might finally do well!
Depending on whether the South American teams show up…
There is nothing this family does not see as an opportunity for corruption. Comically evil.
an0malous 9 minutes ago [-]
as an opportunity for profit*
I think it’s important to clarify the incentives at play, people are rarely evil for the sake of being evil
steveBK123 26 minutes ago [-]
Kushner
mrhottakes 12 minutes ago [-]
On HN? The capitalist/libertarian/Elon posters, Meta employees, etc.
hdgvhicv 24 minutes ago [-]
> Sepp Blatter weighed in, writing on X: "The close relationship between the Fifa president and the US President [Donald Trump] has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football. No-one has the right to sell our game."
Sepp Blatter for crying out loud.
altmanaltman 16 seconds ago [-]
Blatter was corrupt to the core but cared about the actual sport if you look at his record. This new president is like a james bond villian caricature like he actually wants to destroy the sport.
dismalaf 21 minutes ago [-]
Who better to recognize corruption?
sizzzzlerz 2 minutes ago [-]
That's like John Gotti saying Al Capone was corrupt.
qzw 28 minutes ago [-]
The companies that want a piece of FIFA, I assume.
Edit: I just realized you meant who here on hn, in which case I assume the hardcore capitalists/libertarians. But they can speak for themselves.
shmuli9 31 minutes ago [-]
About time
Hard to think of a modern institution as corrupt as fifa. That may not bother too many people because it’s not their government, but I just think it stinks
t0mpr1c3 18 minutes ago [-]
FIFA has been monstrously corrupt since at least as far back as the 1970s (Havelange).
I backslid this year, but did completely boycott watching in 2018 and 2022. Russia is a pariah state and should never have been allowed to host, and Qatar was manifestly unsuitable.
The only difference this year is that the bribery and political favors were out in the open.
nkg 23 minutes ago [-]
I'm so happy to see they care enough to take a stand.
The last World Cup was a sh-t show. I expect the LA olympics to be no better.
dmarcos 16 minutes ago [-]
How was it a shit show? I’m genuinely curious. I attended 5 games (Atlanta, LA and Dallas) and was a fantastic experience minus the process to get tickets.
antonyt 10 minutes ago [-]
Not OP, but I would guess: "hydration breaks" to inject commercials, half-time shows that felt alien to much of the core audience, and various rule-bending shenanigans (Ronaldo, Balogun).
orangedog 12 minutes ago [-]
Sports people (I was listening to Bill Simmons) rated it pretty highly.
There was nothing egregious and it was widely attended.
t0mpr1c3 7 minutes ago [-]
The way that the Iran team was only allowed into the USA on match days was a disgrace.
Refusing entry to a Somali referee on the spurious grounds of links to terrorism was a disgrace.
The overturning of Falorin Balogun's ban was a disgrace.
The ticket prices were a disgrace. The transport to the stadiums was a shambles.
I could go on.
triceratops 9 minutes ago [-]
The ticket prices and scalping (sorry, authorized re-selling to find the market clearing price) were robbery.
t0mpr1c3 11 minutes ago [-]
Maybe the way that Infantino nakedly advanced political favors for Trump (the f×××ing peace prize, Folarin f×××ing Balogun) and now wants a fat slice of payback?
ktallett 7 minutes ago [-]
The fact a ban was overturned as a political favour.
paulbjensen 30 minutes ago [-]
It's only a matter of time before there are sponsors on the Yellow and Red cards...
coffeebeqn 29 minutes ago [-]
Guaranteed slots to the tournaments for patrons
secretsatan 21 minutes ago [-]
I follow a local team and don’t really follow the larger picture, but injuries are sponsored, i always thought that would produce a perverse incentive.
runarberg 4 minutes ago [-]
“Looks like this is a card. He already has a yellow (sponsored by Qatar Airwaves), and may be looking at his second. YES! he is receiving is second yellow, this time sponsored by Universal Studio, and here is the red card. Sponsored by Red Bull. He is leaving this game and his team mates one down.”
Second commentator: “It is true, Red Bull gives you wings. In this case, the wings only take you to the shower room.”
fred_is_fred 24 minutes ago [-]
The red card for covering your mouth while talking to an opponent is brought to you by Telegram.
einrealist 5 minutes ago [-]
Yes, but isn't football already overly commercialised? Why is advertising for sports betting or alcohol any better than the FIFA issue? UEFA should take a look at itself, too.
sunrising 24 minutes ago [-]
It's a pity that those letters are not sent for many many other things.
haunter 37 minutes ago [-]
I think the mandatory ad break introduced by FIFA at the World Cup was also too much for most football people, not just fans. Changed too much, broke the dynamics, basically the sport became a game of 4 quarters instead of 2 halves. These two things combined together are just over the top and unacceptable (UEFA already said they won't use these mandatory ad breaks anywhere)
This is the closest where I can see a future where we have a rugby union / rugby league like schism.
Of all the things wrong with the World Cup, the most inconsequential ones - hydration breaks and the final half-time show - have attracted the most griping.
alberto-m 24 minutes ago [-]
Changing the pauses of the game alters the momentum and, as consequence, the results. How is that “inconsequential”? There have been cases of corrupted referees before, but violating the Laws of the Game in plain sight is an unprecedented attack on the sport.
HelloMcFly 6 minutes ago [-]
I think hydration breaks can be defensible as long as they are a) conditionally triggered by pre-existing criteria that is b) created by an honest assessment of player welfare independent of economic considerations.
I can't say I think the halftime show is a big deal at all though.
xmprt 13 minutes ago [-]
I can agree that it definitely makes it a different game/playstyle but I'm still not sure if it's guaranteed worse. Putting ads during the break is obviously bad and a cash grab but from a gameplay perspective, it's not clear that a short break during the half is necessarily worse.
orangedog 22 minutes ago [-]
How does it violate the laws of the game?
Every single break time decision in football is arbitrary already.
nwbt 12 minutes ago [-]
Every rule in sports is arbitrary, that's not an argument. If you want to do it properly, ask about the spirit of the game, not the laws - and there's clearly a conflict there.
gffrd 18 minutes ago [-]
> the most inconsequential ones
This is like saying “customers aren’t worried enough about the corporate process - they only care about the end product!”
coffeebeqn 24 minutes ago [-]
The VAR calls 5 minutes after the fact were the most bothersome thing to me
gffrd 14 minutes ago [-]
… and the 9+’ stoppage for every match.
monegator 21 minutes ago [-]
the mandatory ad breaks were usa-level bullshit that never happened before, not even when they were playing in the fucking desert (and that world cup should have been boycotted too, but for different reasons.)
a few years ago when the momentum was moving towards tennis, some european clubs proposed a "super league" comprising of only the elite teams, the purpose was again to maximize ad profits (and i should go back to check who actually proposed it, who they were affiliated with). That time they were suggested not to proceed, or else they would be boycotted from all other events, the players too. That was also a good decision.
football (not handegg) it already corrupt enough as it is, and too much money is flowing into it, it's incredible and heart warming that there is still some dignity left in the associations.
orangedog 31 minutes ago [-]
Why would non-fans even care? It was a 3 minute break, non-fans would not have any idea that you were going for 2 halves to 4 "quarters". I think this is the kind of thing purists care about but most people don't, most don't even know it is new.
scbrg 22 minutes ago [-]
I'm most certainly not a football fan, but I definitely know that a match consists of two 45 minute (and then some) halves. It's pretty much equivalent to a non motor enthusiast knowing that there are usually four wheels on a car.
I'd say this is very, very common knowledge in huge parts of the world. It's not something only enthusiasts and purists know.
orangedog 18 minutes ago [-]
Sure, but they aren't leaving the field. There are plenty of stoppages in game already which take as much time. In that sense it's nothing new. Do non-fans view it as changing to 4 "quarters"? I'm not sure most people would care. This is what I mean it's the kind of thing that football purists care about but it's a very small thing.
gffrd 11 minutes ago [-]
“I’m not sure what the big deal about tripling the number of tire changes in the race is.”
orangedog 7 minutes ago [-]
You're not making any argument, you're just saying change is worse.
rsynnott 10 minutes ago [-]
> non-fans would not have any idea that you were going for 2 halves to 4 "quarters"
… By non-fans do you mean people who have literally never heard of football, or something? I’m very far from a fan, no interest at all. But, I mean, I know there are two halves. Everybody knows that.
orangedog 5 minutes ago [-]
There still are 2 halves. Framing it as quarters is the entire thing. There are numerous things throughout a game which will cause the game to be paused just as long, which is why there is stoppage time.
hamper653 3 minutes ago [-]
There aren’t usually numerous 5-minutes pauses in a football match, no.
poncho_romero 29 minutes ago [-]
Why would anyone be in favour of more ad breaks?
orangedog 29 minutes ago [-]
I'm not arguing for ad breaks, I'm saying non-fans would not even be aware this is something new.
This is the thing that is too much? I just don't get it. The entire thing is a spectacle to sell ads.
DrSiemer 4 minutes ago [-]
Europe is full of people who are not fans, but will still hear all about the games when their country plays, because it's basically impossible to avoid. Chat groups, work banter, waiting rooms, everybody will be talking about it ALL THE TIME. There is a base level of knowledge for the sport everybody shares. Maybe it's the same with American Football in the US? As a European, I still have no idea what that is even remotely about.
A game having two main uninterrupted halves is one of those foundational facts. Players train for being able to play for that long without getting too thirsty to continue.
ahartmetz 14 minutes ago [-]
In almost every part of the world, all people know some basic things about football (and I do mean the one where you kick a ball with the foot), like it has two halves of 45 minutes.
charlieyu1 4 minutes ago [-]
On the other hand, it gives a chance for fans to turn off the TV when the game isn’t great
monkey_monkey 27 minutes ago [-]
No one really gives a shit what Americans who don't follow football think, though.
orangedog 25 minutes ago [-]
The original post mentioned people that weren't fans, though. Who are we talking about that are "football people" but not fans. I'm not trying to be dense, I just don't know which audience this is.
Fargren 12 minutes ago [-]
USA is the exception here. In most countries, even people who are not football fans are pretty aware of how it works.
I don't often watch football outside the world cup. I don't support any teams. But I know how football is meant to be played, and I was definitely annoyed about the hydration breaks.
Does USA have people that don't follow american football but will watch the Superbowl? Would those people notice if there were three times as many breaks as usual?
hamper653 23 minutes ago [-]
Most football non-fans absolutely know that a football match is supposed to be two halves.
orangedog 21 minutes ago [-]
It's still two halves there is just another short stoppage time in which players stay on the field, the same as every foul, goal, and variety of other timing based decisions in football.
hamper653 10 minutes ago [-]
I wouldn’t know, I haven’t watched a single football match since 2018. As for short stoppage time, football use to have much less than, say, rugby. Was it different this year?
paxys 21 minutes ago [-]
Football/soccer is one place where Europe can easily flex their muscles against American capitalism and corruption. Good on them for saying it loud and clear.
dotcoma 15 minutes ago [-]
Europe, united at long last!
blahblaher 24 minutes ago [-]
Good to see some "balls" can still be found
mgianluc76 21 minutes ago [-]
Good calls. Honestly, the last World Cup already had way too many unwatchable matches before the quarterfinals. And the hydration pauses to sell more ads. And that halftime show during the final.
riffraff 43 minutes ago [-]
It's crazy that as despicable an organization as UEFA is, they're still far better than FIFA.
Infantino has been a disgrace, I hope they manage to get rid of him, but I have very little hope.
vostrocity 14 minutes ago [-]
I don't follow any sport, but I actually don't understand why UEFA and FIFA are non-profits when all the American leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL) are for-profit corporations. It seems to work well in America.
tmgldn 2 minutes ago [-]
Because they were designed to be decentralised federations, atop the footballing body in each country. More generally, the US is the most capitalist country, whereas the rest of the world does automatically see capitalism as justified, superior or inevitable.
Lastly, football is a grassroots participation sport that is seen by its fans as more of a religion than a conventional act of entertainment. Of course, religion in the US is also often for-profit, but hopefully you get the point.
charlieyu1 6 minutes ago [-]
Are they? Their revenues are limited and they can’t really extend their influence outside USA. Meanwhile European games are watched globally
scaredreally 31 minutes ago [-]
ELI5? What are the factors and implications?
xenospn 29 minutes ago [-]
There is no World Cup without UEFA.
coffeebeqn 28 minutes ago [-]
UEFA is Europe basically. So like the nexus of modern football
ahartmetz 13 minutes ago [-]
7/10 of the currently top ranked national teams are UEFA members.
baalimago 43 minutes ago [-]
It seems like Europe, yet again, have to stand up for ethics, morality and try to deflect corruption. It's so tiresome.
hdgvhicv 40 minutes ago [-]
It’s standing up for football. Far more important.
cccbbbaaa 30 minutes ago [-]
Well, FIFA is also an European organization. Swiss, to be exact.
dgellow 20 minutes ago [-]
It’s located in Switzerland, but it’s a global organization and has really close ties with the US president
Carbon1603 6 minutes ago [-]
You don't understand, good things come from the EU, bad things come from those filthy non-EU Europeans.
secretsatan 15 minutes ago [-]
Sorry to be a pedant, while switzerland is in the european landmass, it is not a member of the EU.
triceratops 13 minutes ago [-]
Sorry to be a pedant too but no one said EU.
javier2 25 minutes ago [-]
Maybe. But we take football quite seriously.
24 minutes ago [-]
jkingsbery 34 minutes ago [-]
Isn't Infantino European?
efdee 32 minutes ago [-]
Swiss.
whateveracct 18 minutes ago [-]
CONCACAF too
mrhottakes 14 minutes ago [-]
Good. Good riddance.
ktallett 40 minutes ago [-]
The FA's worldwide don't need FIFA, they can set up a new world tournament. You will get a lot of poor nations who stick with FIFA for the cash but at the end of the day without European teams the world cup and FIFA will have minimal value. 5 of the last 6 world cup winners were european and it will only get more biased towards Europe. Argentina post Messi have no chance, and Brazil are the furthest away from winning than they ever have been.
Izikiel43 32 minutes ago [-]
> Argentina post Messi have no chance
Hold my beer
ktallett 17 minutes ago [-]
Spain have a far more youthful side, who can easily win again. France will come back, as will England. Argentina have few players coming through and many stars will have retired by the next tournament, even youthful Alvarez will be 30 next time out.
onesandofgrain 29 minutes ago [-]
..
triceratops 21 minutes ago [-]
You seem to believe things that bring people joy are a waste of human potential. Please explain. Are we only meant to be machines that produce 16/7?
16 minutes ago [-]
kreyenborgi 17 minutes ago [-]
I wish sports would be sports, business be business, and politics politics. Whenever they mix, it is for the worse.
According to aljazeera's article, "the core investor would be a New York venture capital investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner."
glitchc 33 minutes ago [-]
Cue UEFA's leadership being replaced in the next year or two. FIFA has had a taste of the amount of money involved in professional sports. There's no going back.
rsynnott 7 minutes ago [-]
How would that work? FIFA doesn’t control UEFA.
CodingJeebus 19 minutes ago [-]
50 of the 55 member UEFA states took the floor to express their outrage at FIFA, this is not a matter of UEFA leadership being out of touch. The vast majority of the confederation is ready to walk.
Ekaros 26 minutes ago [-]
FIFA is just upholding western values. Profit, exploitation and money over everything else. They with FIA and likes are just showing the world what truly matters for western world.
paxys 20 minutes ago [-]
American values, not western.
orangedog 14 minutes ago [-]
We're really going to act like the entire world doesn't have issues with this.
Given this is a worldwide institution dealing with this, I think you are both casting the new too small.
Famously before either the US or Western world, these values were never celebrated.
marcosdumay 8 minutes ago [-]
US values, from the culture of the last 40 years.
tmgldn 13 minutes ago [-]
Put it this way - Europeans don't generally call themselves from "the West" in 2026 - it's an American geopolitical fantasy.
xhevahir 24 minutes ago [-]
Or maybe not, since it's Europe who are objecting here?
callamdelaney 24 minutes ago [-]
Yet it’s the very west uefa protesting.. right
Rendered at 19:41:08 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
The problem with that is that it then it is no longer a sport, rather a... business.
UEFA letter is spot on.
So this will now be the new norm. Host countries will be ones where laws don’t prohibit gouging fans. They’ll come up with creative solutions to meet the rotation requirement like the upcoming host a couple games in South America farce that’s allowing them to go to Saudi Arabia after that. They’ll continue to push the boundaries of decency until they get sufficient pushback.
Got friends working for them as developers. They ran away. In months
Trump and Kushners
"Joshua Kushner is now the kingpin in driving the sale of the World Cup to investors and family ties are tight around the project"[1]
1. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/30/fifas-sale-...
Interesting parallels to OpenAI.
For a second, I thought the Americanization[1] of fùtbol would be done gradually and no one would complain as we'd be slowly boiled. I'm glad the corrupt bastards got greedy/impatient and took a big swing.
1. Sports as business first, catering to owners first, sponsors second, broadcasters, and then lastly fans. IMO non-profit sports organizations are the best model for fans, who I identify the most with.
That said, a World Cup without any of the 55 UEFA countries wouldn’t make sense commercially.
Depending on whether the South American teams show up…
His son in law is running the investment firm https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-fifa-investors-kushner-...
In turn Trump wants to nominate Infantino for Secretary General of UN https://www.euronews.com/2026/07/22/trumps-pick-for-the-next...
I think it’s important to clarify the incentives at play, people are rarely evil for the sake of being evil
Sepp Blatter for crying out loud.
Edit: I just realized you meant who here on hn, in which case I assume the hardcore capitalists/libertarians. But they can speak for themselves.
Hard to think of a modern institution as corrupt as fifa. That may not bother too many people because it’s not their government, but I just think it stinks
I backslid this year, but did completely boycott watching in 2018 and 2022. Russia is a pariah state and should never have been allowed to host, and Qatar was manifestly unsuitable.
The only difference this year is that the bribery and political favors were out in the open.
There was nothing egregious and it was widely attended.
Refusing entry to a Somali referee on the spurious grounds of links to terrorism was a disgrace.
The overturning of Falorin Balogun's ban was a disgrace.
The ticket prices were a disgrace. The transport to the stadiums was a shambles.
I could go on.
Second commentator: “It is true, Red Bull gives you wings. In this case, the wings only take you to the shower room.”
This is the closest where I can see a future where we have a rugby union / rugby league like schism.
Oh and guess who is behind the investment group: https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-fifa-investors-kushner-...
I can't say I think the halftime show is a big deal at all though.
Every single break time decision in football is arbitrary already.
This is like saying “customers aren’t worried enough about the corporate process - they only care about the end product!”
a few years ago when the momentum was moving towards tennis, some european clubs proposed a "super league" comprising of only the elite teams, the purpose was again to maximize ad profits (and i should go back to check who actually proposed it, who they were affiliated with). That time they were suggested not to proceed, or else they would be boycotted from all other events, the players too. That was also a good decision.
football (not handegg) it already corrupt enough as it is, and too much money is flowing into it, it's incredible and heart warming that there is still some dignity left in the associations.
I'd say this is very, very common knowledge in huge parts of the world. It's not something only enthusiasts and purists know.
… By non-fans do you mean people who have literally never heard of football, or something? I’m very far from a fan, no interest at all. But, I mean, I know there are two halves. Everybody knows that.
This is the thing that is too much? I just don't get it. The entire thing is a spectacle to sell ads.
A game having two main uninterrupted halves is one of those foundational facts. Players train for being able to play for that long without getting too thirsty to continue.
I don't often watch football outside the world cup. I don't support any teams. But I know how football is meant to be played, and I was definitely annoyed about the hydration breaks.
Does USA have people that don't follow american football but will watch the Superbowl? Would those people notice if there were three times as many breaks as usual?
Infantino has been a disgrace, I hope they manage to get rid of him, but I have very little hope.
Lastly, football is a grassroots participation sport that is seen by its fans as more of a religion than a conventional act of entertainment. Of course, religion in the US is also often for-profit, but hopefully you get the point.
Hold my beer
Given this is a worldwide institution dealing with this, I think you are both casting the new too small.
Famously before either the US or Western world, these values were never celebrated.