Gianni Infantino stepped off a plane in Cali, Colombia, to be greeted on the runway by Colombian Football Federation president Ramon Jesurun.
Jesurun, a close ally of Infantino, used the moment to show his public support, with both men photographed smiling for the federation’s Instagram account.
Infantino had travelled to Colombia to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, on Friday.
He was accompanied by Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez, who praised Infantino’s record and the “enormously successful” 2026 World Cup, declaring “we stand with Gianni”.
That scene neatly captures what life looks like for the president of world football’s governing body in 2026.
Before the controversy surrounding the aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise plan, Infantino was widely considered untouchable, an extraordinarily powerful figure operating at the highest levels of global sport and politics.
Now, following a public apology and a stated determination to weather the backlash over his plan to sell a stake in the men’s World Cup to private equity firms, Infantino appears intent on returning to business as usual.
Whether that proves possible remains a very open question, with Uefa’s threat to boycott Fifa tournaments still very much alive ahead of the Under-20 World Cup in Poland in 29 days.
Infantino travels in a style that more closely resembles a head of state than a sports administrator, with a cavalcade of blacked-out Mercedes flanked by police cars rolling into Fifa’s Rabat headquarters earlier this week.
That Moroccan base served as his operational centre as the Fifa Forward Enterprise controversy developed, with a select group of Fifa management board members summoned there to discuss selling 21% of the commercial and ticketing business to a private equity firm.
Between such meetings, Infantino has access to a Qatar Airways Executive jet, a plane that enabled him to take up to three flights a day and watch two games throughout the 2026 World Cup.
His travel demands have raised eyebrows on more than one occasion, with local authorities in Vancouver rejecting a request for a level-four motorcade before the Fifa Congress in April, a privilege usually reserved for heads of state or the Pope.
New Zealand police confirmed they had declined a similar request during the 2023 Women’s World Cup, underscoring a pattern of demands that critics feel are disproportionate for a sporting official.
Alongside the motorcades and private charter flights comes a salary that has grown substantially since Infantino was first elected in 2016, when he earned approximately £1.3m.
He now takes home around £4m, comprising a base salary of £2.2m and a confirmed variable bonus of £1.8m, plus a per diem allowance worth £20,500 a year to cover expenses and living costs.
That figure already surpasses the £2.6m package received by his predecessor Sepp Blatter in his final year as Fifa president.
Infantino’s relationship with US President Donald Trump became one of the defining and most scrutinised aspects of his tenure, with many in world football feeling it came at the expense of his core footballing responsibilities.
In May 2025, Infantino arrived two hours late to the Fifa Congress in Paraguay after joining Trump on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, prompting Uefa to accuse him of prioritising “private political interests” and stage a dramatic walk-out.
The Fifa Peace Prize, awarded to Trump shortly before the US invaded Venezuela and launched air attacks on Iran, drew widespread criticism, though Fifa’s ethics committee did not respond to complaints about Infantino’s political neutrality.
Infantino also made a surprise appearance at the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace, set up to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, though the International Olympic Committee said its political neutrality rules had not been breached.
Tensions reached a peak when USA striker Folarin Balogun escaped a ban after being sent off at the World Cup, with Trump publicly stating he had personally called Infantino asking for the red card to be reviewed.
Infantino insisted the decision was taken by an independent disciplinary body over which no one could have any influence, but Trump appeared at Trump Tower with Infantino on the final weekend of the World Cup and said he had called the Fifa president who “made another great decision”.
The Fifa Forward Enterprise plan then provided the most direct link yet between Infantino and Trump’s inner circle, as the prospective private investor was a company linked to the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Despite this accumulating list of controversies, Infantino had seemed certain of re-election before the World Cup, with 111 member associations already having publicly declared their support — enough to guarantee another term.
Expanding the World Cup to 64 teams for 2030 appears highly likely should Infantino secure a fourth term, while the unique allocation of the next two men’s tournaments also helped ensure Saudi Arabia, another close Infantino ally, would receive the 2034 event.
Critics point to ticket pricing concerns at the 2026 World Cup, with the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey subpoenaing Fifa to answer questions about its ticketing practices after the governing body used a secondary marketplace with uncapped prices and a 30% share on each ticket sold.
Infantino rarely faces independent scrutiny, having given just two news conferences in four years, both lasting one hour and held before the start of the World Cup.
His response at that pre-tournament news conference — telling journalists to “just, you know, chill, relax” regarding Somali referee Omar Artan being denied entry to the USA at Miami Airport — sparked considerable concern.
The Fifa statement issued on Wednesday offered some contrition but also contained a firm rebuke, with Infantino asserting that Fifa would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process”.
Uefa sees the current moment as its best opportunity to force Infantino from office, but as his attendance at a Colombian presidential inauguration demonstrates, removing him from the world stage may prove extraordinarily difficult.
