FIFA president Infantino received undisclosed $1.7M World Cup payment

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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 in a potential violation of FIFA statutes.

According to the IRS Form 990 -- which U.S. based non-profits 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 FIFA governance committee, told The Times that not making Infantino's additional salary public "is a clear contravention of the rules if he is paid other amounts by companies related to FIFA and it is not made public. The FIFA statutes impose an obligation of full transparency. It is not appropriate for the FIFA compensation sub-committee to authorize other forms of remuneration. I agree the president of FIFA needs to be very well paid, but that needs to be transparent."

The disclosure of Infantino's additional salary is just the latest dose of controversy to engulf the FIFA president. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Infantino had put together a plan to sell off a 20% stake in the World Cup to outside investors, led by Joshua Kushner, an effort Infantino dubbed Football Forward Enterprises.

Kushner is the young brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. Infantino built close ties to Trump ahead of this year's World Cup held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and was a regular visitor to the White House.

The heads of UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) demanded Infantino's resignation as a result. UEFA even threatened to boycott future FIFA events, though the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup that concluded in September went ahead as planned. Infantino has since tried to mend fences with the three confederation heads via a letter that agreed with a proposal that would distribute $10 million to each member association.

Infantino also faced criticism for his handling of a disciplinary matter during the World Cup involving U.S. forward Folarin Balogun.

Balogun received a red card in the Americans' 2-0 round-of-32 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, which should have resulted in a suspension for the round-of-16 match against Belgium. But after U.S. President Donald Trump placed a call to Infantino about the suspension, Balogun was given a reprieve in the form of probation, enabling him to play in the match that was won by Belgium, 4-1.

The next meeting of the FIFA Council is scheduled for this Thursday in Zurich.