FIFA president Gianni Infantino has never been a public relations savant. Remember this?
Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker.
So perhaps it comes as no surprise that Infantino is stepping in it again just over a week following the conclusion of this summer’s World Cup hosted in North America. The tournament was, by all metrics, a commercial juggernaut. Television ratings were through the roof. Stadiums were sold out despite concerns of ticket pricing. Fan engagement reached a fever pitch. And FIFA created a robust market for media rights to the next two World Cups, which will surely bring in over a billion dollars a pop in the United States alone.
But the tournament’s commercial success doesn’t mean it wasn’t without its fair share of controversy. Visa issues persisted for players, staff, and fans from several competing countries. And federations around the world accused FIFA of succumbing to political pressure after USMNT star Folarin Balogun saw his red-card ban rescinded one day before a Round of 16 match against Belgium.
In a 15-page Instagram post on Sunday, Infantino addressed those criticisms and more, attributing much of the perceived negativity to the press and suggesting that those who engaged in “spreading hate” missed the “joy and togetherness” that the World Cup brought.
“To those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumors, I want to say that while you are sitting behind, we at FIFA are on the front lines organizing, working hard, and delivering the best show in the world,” Infantino wrote.
Ironically, Infantino’s own Instagram post included falsehoods that any journalist would find worthy of note. As The Athletic’s Adam Crafton points out, Infantino claimed the tournament had “no incidents, 100% safety and security, only joy and happiness!” However, four people died from suffocation in Mexico City during celebrations following Mexico’s Round of 32 win over Ecuador.
Infantino later urged the “pens and papers,” which appears to be his chosen euphemism for the press, to “find love and peace where the people behind you couldn’t.”
Crafton also notes Infantino did not conduct a single press conference during or after the tournaments this summer, instead opting to use social media to address legitimate criticisms of this summer’s World Cup.
The FIFA president has long had a combative relationship with the press, which has covered the myriad controversies of the sport’s global governing body for as long as the organization has imprinted itself on the beautiful game. The playbook Infantino is deploying now seems quite familiar: Claim unqualified success while labeling detractors as killjoys.
There’s no question that this summer’s World Cup was a monumental success that brought happiness and positivity to the lives of many. But there were also plenty of worthy critiques that shouldn’t be so brazenly dismissed by the head of FIFA.
Why wade into nuance, however, when you can simply choose to ignore instead?
Source: Awful Announcing
