Mandela, Gandhi … Infantino? Yes, it’s Fifa Congress time again

When Russia played Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the last World Cup, Gianni Infantino wasn’t the only dignitary in the crowd. As Russia opened the scoring, the cameras cut to the corporate seats, where the Fifa president could be seen sharing a funny joke with the matchday buddies sitting either side of him, Vladimir Putin and Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman. Of course, this was back in the days before the Saudi crown prince was discovered to have ordered his hit squad to play fast and loose with a bonesaw, or the Russian president had declared outright war on Ukraine. On that particular summer’s evening in Moscow, they were just a pair of common-or-garden tyrants kicking back and enjoying the craic, brought together by their good pal Gianni.

But despite subsequently accepting a medal of friendship from Putin, Infantino has now been forced to concede that, despite his high hopes, staging the World Cup in Russia had not invoked the warm fuzziness he’d hoped in the Russian president. Speaking at the 72nd Fifa congress, staged in Qatar before Friday’s Human Rights World Cup draw, Infantino insisted that while Russia 2018 had been “a great success”, sadly “it did not solve the problems of the world”. Not only that, “it did not create a lasting peace”, he parped. “Therefore my plea, to all of those who have some power in this world, to all of those who are in important political positions in the world – please, please stop conflicts and wars. Please, for our children, for our future.”

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But while football may have come up short when it came to stopping conflict, Infantino remains confident it can still play an important role. Asked about the legacy