Corrupt FIFA Boss' Scheme Falls Through

 

FIFA's unapologetic Trump sycophant and sketchy hustler Gianni Infantino thought through his close association with the corrupt Malignant Fascist and his family would bring him new riches by selling off pieces of the World Cup event.  The plan, hidden from member soccer conferences and internal FIFA officials, blew up after it was made public that the MF's son-in-law's brother Josh Kushner was involved in the plan.  The blow-up now threatens the corrupt Infantino with removal:

"Gianni Infantino's position as Fifa president is growing increasingly untenable as Uefa declared it has lost confidence in the Swiss-Italian after he scrapped his controversial plan to sell off stakes of the World Cup to private investors.

Uefa’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any Fifa tournament until plans for the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) were withdrawn and confirmed they would even have boycotted the next World Cup, forcing Infantino’s climbdown late on Friday evening.

Concacaf, the governing body for North America and the Caribbean, reiterated their own concerns over the lack of consultation and rejected the proposal, as did the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who called for an “urgent review of its governance” at Fifa – piling more pressure on Infantino. [snip]

Calls are growing from Uefa member associations to back a candidate to run against Infantino, and the European governing body’s president Ceferin appears the most qualified.

A rival of Infantino, Ceferin most recently no-showed the World Cup 2026 final after the tournament was plagued by controversy, most notably the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s red card ban following a 'review' request from Trump, which Uefa said 'crossed a red line'”.  (our emphasis)

It's another chapter in "Everything Trump Touches Dies," something that the power-lusting Infantino was blind to as he wormed his way into the MF's good graces, giving him a nonsensical "FIFA Peace Prize" because the MF was butthurt over not receiving a Nobel Prize.  He intervened in the red card dispute on the U.S.'s Balogun after the MF's phone call, angerimg every other participating nation.  His arrogance in not consulting with FIFA member associations at last seems to be fatal.  His term is up next year, and what would have been a likely re-election as head of FIFA now looks dead. 

(photo: The MF awards himself the "Peace Prize" as Infantino watches. AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 

"Every Quid Needs A Quo"

 

Giving the Malignant Fascist that FIFA soccer participation "appease prize" appears to be paying off handsomely:

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have moved to drop charges against a former Fox employee who was convicted of scheming to pay millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for the lucrative broadcast rights to soccer tournaments.

It was the latest turnabout for a case that exposed corruption at the highest levels of international sports.

Hernán López, who was the chief executive of a unit that was responsible for developing Fox’s sports broadcasting business in Latin America, was convicted in 2023 of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. Prosecutors had said Mr. López conspired to pay off the heads of national federations to win the rights to broadcast two South American soccer tournaments.

But on Tuesday, Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, wrote in a letter to the judge who oversaw the case against Mr. López and the Argentine marketing firm convicted along with him, Full Play Group, that dismissing it was in the interest of justice.  [snip]

It was another dramatic swing in a case that arose from a Justice Department investigation into corruption by international soccer officials. Federal investigators began probing corruption at FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, in 2010, but the case burst into the open with a series of high-profile arrests in Switzerland in 2015.

The investigation rocked the world of global soccer. Mr. López and Full Play were indicted five years later and convicted in March 2023 after a seven-week trial.

Prosecutors said that Mr. López took part in a scheme to make secret payments worth millions of dollars to secure the broadcast rights to the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana tournaments. Full Play, according to prosecutors, engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to soccer officials for rights to multiple events over a period of years.

Mr. López also helped Fox beat out ESPN to win the rights to broadcast the men’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022, prosecutors said. Fox has denied involvement in the scheme and was never accused of wrongdoing by prosecutors... (our emphasis)

There's more slime at the (free) link.

In this and many other cases, "the interest of justice" means "the interest of the Malignant Fascist and his corrupt cronies."  FIFA, the most corrupt sports organization in the history of sports organizations, has found a soulmate in the equally corrupt, transactional Malignant Fascist.  They just found the quid pro quo for wiping one scandal involving FIFA federation officials off the books was a cheap prize and medal to a very thirsty, narcissistic MF.

(Photo:  the MF dons his participation prize/ Evan Vucci, AP)