When FIFA 'redraws' world football from the lobby of Trump Tower

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is very pleased with the FIFA Club World Cup.

Because if he had listened, he would have known that the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup™ - the new tournament he has been trying to promote - is not the "great success" he preached to a cast of "FIFA legends" and a carefully selected group of reporters in... the lobby of Trump Tower.

Yes, fans read that correctly: Trump Tower. The scene was not only bizarre, but also highly symbolic - a global sports leader, encased in a shell of power and detached from reality, glorifying a league universally criticized by pundits, players, fans and national leagues.

Infantino says the Club World Cup generates $2.1 billion , has an average audience of 40,000 people per match, and… has “two to three billion viewers worldwide.” None of these figures are specifically sourced, and no independent entity is allowed to verify them. It all boils down to one message: “Trust me, I am FIFA.”

What is more remarkable is not the exaggerated figures, but the way they are served. In front of Infantino is a group of “legends” including Del Piero, Stoichkov, Ronaldo, Baggio - who take turns praising FIFA as if they are giving political speeches. Not only are their travel and accommodation expenses covered, but they are also given the opportunity to “do business” with sponsors. In return, they have to sing FIFA’s praises. A performance that everyone, except the audience, knows will end.

FIFA President still believes that the 2025 Club World Cup was a success.

Meanwhile, the press was tightly controlled. Only two critical questions were allowed, the rest were ignored. Instead, there were pleasant questions such as: “Does the US President, Donald Trump, like football?” - the opening act for another boast from Infantino about his White House meetings.

Outside Trump Tower, however, the reality is clearer. 39 leagues have filed a complaint with the European Commission against FIFA for disrupting the international calendar. FifPro, the professional players’ organization, has warned of burnout. Even players in the United States are worried. Jürgen Klopp has bluntly called the tournament “the worst idea ever implemented in football.”

For Infantino, those voices are irrelevant. He is not there to talk, but to impose. His ultimate goal has never been to develop global football in a fair way – it is to extend FIFA’s power into the most lucrative territory: club football, where TV revenue, sponsorship and prestige are at their peak. The Club World Cup is just a cover for that ambition.

And as expected, Chelsea – regardless of the outcome of the final against PSG – will take home more than $100 million . A sum that is enough to distort the balance of competition in domestic football. But Infantino is not concerned about that “fragile ecosystem”. He only cares: his tournament is happening, the money is coming in, and the people who are being paid are saying what he wants to hear.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino's Club World Cup has learned a lot from the failed Super League project.

When asked about the hot weather that made the players feel stuffy, he shrugged: “The Olympics in Paris are hot too. We will have more water breaks.” When questioned about the empty seats, he argued: “I would rather have 35,000 people in an 80,000-seat stadium than 20,000 people in a 20,000-seat stadium.” In his logic, appearance is always more important than substance.

There is one thing Infantino and his FIFA team learned very quickly from the failed Super League model: if they want to control the future of football, they must not convince the small clubs, but please the big ones. They did it with money, with the promise of a global stage, and by creating a tournament where the rest are just backdrops.

And so, once again, it was realized: the Club World Cup is more than a tournament – it is a statement of power. It is a test case for an ecosystem that FIFA can control from top to bottom. And Gianni Infantino, with his smug smile and his hand waving at the tough questions, will continue to do so. Not for football. But for FIFA. And for himself.