Asked about betrayal, he talked about hair
The Sky Sports reporter had a serious question ready. Accusations of betrayal, national associations in open revolt, a presidency under pressure from several directions at once. Gianni Infantino answered with a line about the man’s haircut.
“Have you betrayed football? You have a great haircut! See you at the barber.” The FIFA president, bald himself, deflected with a pun and kept walking. A camera caught it on the fringes of a youth tournament in the Dominican Republic.
Funny for about four seconds. Then it just looked like an answer he did not have.
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He was asked not to come. He came.
The joke is not the story. The trip is. Foot Mercato report that the Concacaf president had directly asked Infantino to stay away, worried his presence would overshadow the tournament.
Infantino flew in regardless. The people waiting to greet him were local political officials. Nobody from the football hierarchy.
The most powerful administrator in the sport turning up at a football event and being received by government protocol instead of football people says everything about where he currently stands.
Weeks of open resistance, and a candidacy that has not moved
None of this started in the Dominican Republic. The anger built after the abandoned plan to sell off the World Cup, then spread as scandals broke inside associations that had spent years backing him. European federations have been lining up against him since, the FFF and the Danish federation among the loudest.
His response has been to carry on. The Italian-Swiss administrator is still standing for the FIFA presidency.
Which sets up an election where a substantial share of the electorate would like him gone. That is the thing worth watching. The barber-shop material is noise.
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