0:00
So as I mentioned when I went through the front pages of the newspaper, someone who has to be, I think it's Alistair Campbell said
0:05
if you dominate the front pages for sort of five days or more, then you should basically give your head a wobble and resign
0:11
Not this man. Oh, hold on, wait, we'll edit this bit out. Here we go
0:18
Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled
0:30
Well today I feel like you should quit Gianni Infantino facing an investigation
0:34
into his entire UEFA career after a lover was paid off which he denies
0:40
that's on the front page of the Telegraph let's bring into the conversation Kieran Maguire the football finance expert
0:45
author of The Price of Football Understanding Football Club Finance great to have you on as always Kieran
0:50
this inquiry then I mean what's it going to look into and do you think Infantino's even going to be in the job
0:57
for much longer I think he's looking increasingly like he's going to survive
1:03
because he's managed to get the support of Africa, the whole of the African Federation
1:09
We now seen breakaways from Mexico and Argentina in terms of support for him And Norway has sort of rode back on its original allegations that the Norwegian Federation wanted him to resign So there an awful lot of politics taking place and he a
1:27
wily old fox, he's janny. So we'll have to wait and see. As for the investigation
1:35
this type of thing goes on in the corporate world all the time. It happens in Canary Wharf
1:40
It happens in the city of London. It happens in the world of politics as well
1:45
So whilst I have got absolutely no time whatsoever for Infantino, for his cronyism, for his hijacking of the game
1:52
this does seem like it's now become a personal spat between him and Alexander Seferin, the head of UEFA
1:59
If UEFA had evidence of unsolicited payments to a former employee as part of a broader issue
2:07
then this should have been investigated 10 years ago and not now. It is strange that we're only hearing about this now
2:13
And the fact that there's been some great journalism from British newspapers
2:17
it has to be said, Martin Siegel, I think it was from The Times, who got the original story regarding Infantino
2:21
and this now from The Telegraph. With regards to the sort of future tournaments as well
2:28
is it the Women's Under-20 World Cup, I think, is coming up next month
2:32
And if you wait for a boycotting at the moment FIFA then how on earth are the English team going to play Well again I think we could see a bit of politics here
2:44
The Women's World Cup is taking place in 2027 in Brazil. Now, the qualifiers are taking place September and October
2:53
But those qualifiers come under the umbrella of UEFA. So UEFA could say, well, because we're responsible for these games
3:01
whilst it leads ultimately to participation in a FIFA tournament, we're not going to cancel these games
3:08
And you've got to take into consideration the views of the players as well. A World Cup once every four years is a huge ambition
3:15
it's a huge goal for players. And that could give them more breathing space
3:20
And what we're seeing now from both parties, from Infantino and from UEFA
3:25
they're all trying to dig up as many of the bodies and many of the old stories as possible
3:29
to place Infantino in either a glowing... I don't know whether you've seen the FIFA press release overnight
3:35
from a FIFA spokesman. Nobody signed their name to it, which was full of glowing praise for him
3:44
and that was fairly combative. And equally, we've seen stuff from UEFA as well
3:49
It's probably from Infantino himself, if it got no putting their name to it Where does this go next do you think in terms of infantile specifically and um and because surely it unsustainable to have this many people basically calling for your heads
4:04
and noting the personal spat side of it sort of to one side with the head of uefa
4:08
well the magic number is 106 yeah in the sense that there's 211 members of fifa
4:15
if 106 vote against him for to be to be renewed as president then then the problem is dealt with
4:22
at present we've seen nobody be willing to stand as an alternative to janny infantino i think the
4:29
head of the south south american union he is seen as sort of a unifying uh candidate but
4:35
infantino already seems to have support from quite a few countries so it could end up being
4:42
uefa and a few other countries we saw the reaction from jordan for example who hadn't been paid for
4:49
their participation in FIFA matches, all of a sudden the money arrives because, of course
4:55
Infantino is now seeking votes. So incredibly political. It's just like Whitehall
5:03
Thanks very much, Kieran. Appreciate it. Kieran Maguire is football finance expert and author of
5:07
The Price of Football, understanding football club finance. And he's the best in the business
5:12
in this field. So grateful for Kieran for coming on
