FIFA president Gianni Infantino received undisclosed $1.7M World Cup payment - ESPN

FIFA president Gianni Infantino received previously undisclosed compensation from the business entity in charge of the 2026 World Cup, according to documents from FIFA and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The lack of transparency surrounding the additional compensation is a potential violation of FIFA statutes.

According to the IRS Form 990 — which U.S.-based nonprofits must file annually — Infantino received $1.72 million in 2024 from FWC2026, the official U.S.- based entity set up by FIFA to manage and operate the 2026 World Cup.

This compensation was on top of Infantino's regular salary and benefits from FIFA for 2024, which, according to FIFA's financial reports for that year, amounted to 4.274m CHF, or around $4.86 million. The additional compensation wasn't disclosed in FIFA's 2024 annual report, which is the last year for which FWC2026's Form 990 is publicly available.

Article 43, paragraph 13 of FIFA's statutes states that, «The Compensation Sub-Committee shall in particular define Compensation Rules and determine the compensation of the FIFA President, the members of the Council and the FIFA Secretary General. The individual compensation of the FIFA President, the members of the Council and the FIFA Secretary General shall be made public.»

Reached by text message, a FIFA spokesperson told ESPN, «FIFA fully complies with all reporting requirements and strongly rejects any suggestion there has been a violation of FIFA's Statutes.»

The Times was the first to report Infantino's extra compensation from FWC2026 and the apparent violation of FIFA statutes.

Miguel Maduro, the former chairman of the FIFA governance committee, told The Times that not making Infantino's additional salary public «is a clear