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Gianni Infanculo aims to sell World Cup commercial rights

zimbos05 said:
No no. I'm well aware that the FA can't just flip a switch. My point is simple, at what point do we just keep sitting as a passenger and letting things happen, or when do we start to behave like a strong footballing nation.

It's not really a straw to compare them. One could understand why Cambodia or a Nepal is drawn to Infantino's promise of millions, but are we really saying that without those millions, football will die in this country? It wouldn't. We would still produce players and talent, and yes they might move abroad sooner because we don't have the money here, but that didn't affect us in the past. If anything, we were at our strongest as a national side then.

Again, I'm not advocating for full on attack, but rather for us to be smarter in how we do things. Up until now, we have been a simple yes man agreeing with everything we get told by the Middle East because we want their dollars, yet they don't ever back us in anything. We've been wanting the World Cup for ages, yet they don't back us. They only pretend to be our friends and when we ask for their support, they don't give it to us. They throw it behind everyone else. They don't invest in our sport, nor provide any significant benefits. They rush to Europe and the USA and spend it there. So all of this pandering to the Middle Eastern bloc has really got us nothing. Not just us too, but all of East Asia.
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Theres a line in the movie Scarface where the irrepressible Tony Montana is sitting around his swimming pool and turns to his sidekick Manny and says...

"First you get the money..... then you get the power.... then you get the women."

Well if Tony Montana was Chairman of Football Australia he'd turn to pne of his FA spokesmen and say something similar....

Picture the scene....

Leather executive chairs, a dimly lit boardroom overlooking a sprawling, rain-slicked pitch, and the heavy air of pure, unfiltered ambition.

Leaning back with a slow, devastating smirk, Tony Montana exhales a plume of expensive cigar smoke, locks dead-eyed onto his nervous spokesman, and purps out with absolute, ruthless swagger:

"First you get the money... then you get the leverage... and then you get the influence."

Tony Montana would understand that in football, cash isn't just fuel....it's oxygen, armor, and the steering wheel all at once. It dictates who gets to rewrite the rules, who gets the prime real estate at the table, and who gets left outside in the rain watching through the glass.

When the bank account talks, the whole continent listens.
 
Football us life said:
Theres a line in the movie Scarface where the irrepressible Tony Montana is sitting around his swimming pool and turns to his sidekick Manny and says...

"First you get the money..... then you get the power.... then you get the women."

Well if Tony Montana was Chairman of Football Australia he'd turn to pne of his FA spokesmen and say something similar....

Picture the scene....

Leather executive chairs, a dimly lit boardroom overlooking a sprawling, rain-slicked pitch, and the heavy air of pure, unfiltered ambition.

Leaning back with a slow, devastating smirk, Tony Montana exhales a plume of expensive cigar smoke, locks dead-eyed onto his nervous spokesman, and purps out with absolute, ruthless swagger:

"First you get the money... then you get the leverage... and then you get the influence."

Tony Montana would understand that in football, cash isn't just fuel....it's oxygen, armor, and the steering wheel all at once. It dictates who gets to rewrite the rules, who gets the prime real estate at the table, and who gets left outside in the rain watching through the glass.

When the bank account talks, the whole continent listens.
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Better chairman than our current “leadership”!
 
all and good fellas.
You make good points and I pretty much stand behind Zimbos.
As simple as possible I can say regards to us FA.
Yep we are one of the majors in Asia in name only and earlier strong history on the playing score.
Now we are making the numbers and not that strong but playing catch up results wise added by floundering association to fed to NT.
The FA’s major weakness putting aside $’s - lacking a thriving competition from top to bottom.
Being able to show how good FA is running the game in its own backyard.
This imo from a business perspective if I was in FIFA and by our neighbouring OS Feds is our weakness so why would I give it much respect.
Hence from the FA perspective they are soft and to me credibility nothing much to say from the sideline - hey these Aussie FA fellers and gals run a really top show ??? Yer nah.
Hardly any players top flight.
We struggle in our own AC games.
The FA is in debt.
Bailed out the Pro League.
Had a board member walk off with 800odd K for nothing to show for.
The list goes on.
Main thing this mob needs to get its shit together and gain respect then you can scream and say your peace to our fellow Feds and FIFA.
We’re a nothing for our record sucks with the exception of 6 WC qualifiers.
That is the only badge.
 
Football us life said:
Theres a line in the movie Scarface where the irrepressible Tony Montana is sitting around his swimming pool and turns to his sidekick Manny and says...

"First you get the money..... then you get the power.... then you get the women."

Well if Tony Montana was Chairman of Football Australia he'd turn to pne of his FA spokesmen and say something similar....

Picture the scene....

Leather executive chairs, a dimly lit boardroom overlooking a sprawling, rain-slicked pitch, and the heavy air of pure, unfiltered ambition.

Leaning back with a slow, devastating smirk, Tony Montana exhales a plume of expensive cigar smoke, locks dead-eyed onto his nervous spokesman, and purps out with absolute, ruthless swagger:

"First you get the money... then you get the leverage... and then you get the influence."

Tony Montana would understand that in football, cash isn't just fuel....it's oxygen, armor, and the steering wheel all at once. It dictates who gets to rewrite the rules, who gets the prime real estate at the table, and who gets left outside in the rain watching through the glass.

When the bank account talks, the whole continent listens.
Click to expand...
There's also a quote that goes, "nothing changes if nothing changes"

I feel like i'm repeating myself and my point is being ignored.
 
www.nytimes.com

Inside the week that shook Gianni Infantino, FIFA and the football world

The FIFA president's plan to sell a stake in the World Cup has collapsed – here is the inside track on what happened, and what comes next
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com


The Infantino relationship with the Kushner family goes back almost a decade, to Trump’s first term in the White House when the U.S. was vying to secure the 2026 World Cup. Jared Kushner ran a White House department named the Office of American Innovation, which became the connecting point for the bid. Trump’s media advisor at the time, Jason Miller, previously sent a text message that described the work as “all Jared.” This included maximizing his burgeoning relationship with Saudi Arabia, with Vanity Fair reporting Kushner asked the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “directly” for his nation’s support as early as the summer of 2017 during a visit to the country, making the same request to the House of Khalifa in Bahrain. Both nations voted for the joint U.S.-Canada-Mexico bid.
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HappyGuus said:
www.nytimes.com

Inside the week that shook Gianni Infantino, FIFA and the football world

The FIFA president's plan to sell a stake in the World Cup has collapsed – here is the inside track on what happened, and what comes next
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Voting favours and requests for support are nothing new.


The joint bid was simply better than Morocco anyway. Interestingly after North America, Morocco and then Saudi do follow so everyone in the inner circle gets their turn.

I hope the next world cup can be a cleaner slate and if we can get Infantino out then we can stay at 48. I don't think reverting to 32 can happen after seeing the relative success of 48. The absolute vast majority of games meant something and 32 team tournaments had their own share of dead rubbers too.
 
JS96 said:
Is there any way he can be indicted for anything? You need a case, evidence and lawyers but perhaps most things are civil rather than criminal. Putting him behind bars would be very satisfying.
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FIFA is legally a not for profit. Just the fact that governance was skirted and private money was involved probably warrants an investigation and may very well unturn illegal activity. Not that white collar criminals every really end up in gaol for long.
 
It is plain to anyone who read and followed the revelations that at best, this was an attempt to circumvent FIFA's own governance, then bully federations into a proposal that was not in line with any precedent in FIFA's history. At worst, it was a corrupt attempt by Infantino and the Trump cabal to enrich themselves at the expense of the game. Maybe UEFA are smelling blood in the water and whipping up a frenzy for their own political and commercial aims, maybe they are genuine in their stand. I don't know although I am cynical.

What I'm convinced of, is that Football Australia can't claim they were being cautious and pragmatic when they made their statements. They were waiting to see what was in it for them with full knowledge of the nature of the proposal and the lack of governance. That should have been enough. It was a stunning lack of judgement and a complete misreading of their core constituency. It should be ringing alarm bells about FAs fitness to run the game. They simply do not understand that this isn't the AFL or League which can be run purely as a commercial enterprise. This is football and there are established and clear social and ethical obligations that go beyond commercial and corporate obligations.
 
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Punchanello said:
It is plain to anyone who read and followed the revelations that at best, this was an attempt to circumvent FIFA's own governance, then bully federations into a proposal that was not in line with any precedent in FIFA's history. At worst, it was a corrupt attempt by Infantino and the Trump cabal to enrich themselves at the expense of the game. Maybe UEFA are smelling blood in the water and whipping up a frenzy for their own political and commercial aims, maybe they are genuine in their stand. I don't know although I am cynical.

What I'm convinced of, is that Football Australia can't claim they were being cautious and pragmatic when they made their statements. They were waiting to see what was in it for them with full knowledge of the nature of the proposal and the lack of governance. That should have been enough. It was a stunning lack of judgement and a complete misreading of their core constituency. It should be ringing alarm bells about FAs fitness to run the game. They simply do not understand that this isn't the AFL or League which can be run purely as a commercial enterprise. This is football and there are established and clear social and ethical obligations that go beyond commercial and corporate obligations.
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Absolutely. Our FA shown to be a bunch of morally vacuous weathervanes. They've shown their willingness to sell out the game, sell out the fans, and enrich themselves as the local level of the game so it's abundantly clear now they would have all got down on their knees to receive a piddling 40 million dollars to contribute to selling out the entire global game.

And all it took was a little bit of praise from Gianni & posing with a big framed poster with him. Like a low self esteem person that absorbs praise like a sponge because they have no sense of themselves & will do anything to get kudos. Hence are our pathetic FA.
 
erogenouszone said:
Absolutely. Our FA shown to be a bunch of morally vacuous weathervanes. They've shown their willingness to sell out the game, sell out the fans, and enrich themselves as the local level of the game so it's abundantly clear now they would have all got down on their knees to receive a piddling 40 million dollars to contribute to selling out the entire global game.
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I'm not so sure on enriching themselves. I suppose from an executive bonuses perspective that might be true, but all that is contractual. But certainly from the perspective that they were willing to even entertain the $40 mil knowing what they knew, you are bang on.
 
erogenouszone said:
Absolutely. Our FA shown to be a bunch of morally vacuous weathervanes. They've shown their willingness to sell out the game, sell out the fans, and enrich themselves as the local level of the game so it's abundantly clear now they would have all got down on their knees to receive a piddling 40 million dollars to contribute to selling out the entire global game.

And all it took was a little bit of praise from Gianni & posing with a big framed poster with him. Like a low self esteem person that absorbs praise like a sponge because they have no sense of themselves & will do anything to get kudos. Hence are our pathetic FA.
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And we've been doing it for years even with SA - We had naming rights sponsors as far back as the 80's
 
Punchanello said:
Realistically, an acknowledgement they got it wrong and reassurance they get it and will act in the best interests of players, fans and clubs is as much as we could hope for.
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Fair point but...

Expectations of genuine contrition from sports administrators are usually low for a reason. When governing bodies adopt a defensive posture from the outset, issuing a meaningful apology would require an admission of systemic failure that modern executives are rarely willing to make.


Instead of accountability, what typically follows high-level missteps is corporate spin, deflection, or quietly waiting for the news cycle to move on while business continues as usual....
 
Whoever comes in after Infantino will probably just as corrupt. That's the main problem we have. At many levels of football leadership, we don't have anybody genuinely seeking to benefit the game and the fans.

Honestly, I blame us as fans, and players to an extent. We talk about how we don't want these things and want corruption gone, yet we run en masse to buy all the merch, pay stupid prices for tickets and laud it on our social media. As long as we keep doing that, then the execs don't care. We need to stop buying shirts every single season and paying for all the bullshit merch that they sell us, and then boasting about it on social media. Boycott games and stop spending your money idolising players.

The players talk about long schedules and demanding jobs, yet turn their backs on clubs so easily because $200k is "too measly". They have no care or regard for the fan. They turn up, perform shit, post about doing better on social media, then still perform shit. Then they pocket their big cheques or get angry when they only get offered $100k or something stupid like that.

It has to be a grassroots movement, but who will lead it.
 
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