Absurd image that sums up Fifa's 'tinpot dictatorship'

Miguel Delaney explains how the Gianni Infantino-led endeavour to hand Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup finals perfectly encapsulated the depths to which football has sunk

- Miguel Delaney

It was a scene that should become infamous, more absurd than anything even witnessed on 2 December 2010.

Fourteen years on, on Thursday 11 December 2024, Fifa’s congress remotely applauded through two “decisions” that acclaimed the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups: Morocco-Portugal-Spain with three matches in ArgentinaParaguay-Uruguay for 2030, and then Saudi Arabia for the tournament four years later. And that was only the half of it.

The tinny applause came from a display of Big Brother-style screens, Fifa president Gianni Infantino standing proudly in front of it. It was an image that somehow represented a devolution from the shock on Sepp Blatter’s face as he read out “Qatar” on that day in 2010.

Infantino had asked the Congress members to raise their hands so that the acclamation was “near your head” and he would be able to see, before referring to the “scrutinies” also watching on. There were private quips from some involved about whether this would entail scrutinising how enthusiastically voters clapped. They didn’t sound rapturous. Some voters seemed to be in their cars. Others looked to be on their phone.

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Infantino declared.

It is incredible that this was the show put on for a federation of such power and a decision of such importance, but here we are. Here is the modern game.

If it wasn’t for this unique strangeness, you might otherwise have said it was like a “tinpot dictatorship”, a phrase people in football use to describe what confederations such as Fifa and Uefa have become. Even the fact this took place online precluded the possibility of huddled chats in corridors. Some of the members of the Fifa Council – the confederation’s highest body – didn’t even attend.