How much Does FIFA president Gianni Infantino earn?

• FIFA president Gianni Infantino is one of the best paid football executives in FIFA
• Infantino made $3.19 million in 2021, according to his annual report
• He earned 2.98 million Swiss francs
• He also had slightly under $20,000 in other expenses to add to the list

Gianni Infantino is not your ordinary sports personality; he is the FIFA president and one you can’t help but wonder how much does he take home?

Well, by virtue of being the man at the helm of the richest game globally, Infantino’s office collects insane amounts of money.

For instance, FIFA had a projection of $6.44 billion for 2019-2022 revenue target cycle. This figure could comfortably fit alongside the nominal GDP of some countries.

Infantino was overjoyed with the results and he is on record telling the 72nd Congress that FIFA’s finances are fantastic. But how much does he earn?

HOW MUCH DOES GIANNI INFANTINO EARN?

Gianni Infantino made $3.19 million in 2021, according to his annual report. He earned 2.98 million Swiss francs. He also had slightly under $20,000 in other expenses to add to the list.

However, Infantino’s base pay is 1.95 million Swiss Francs, while the additional 1.03 million Swiss Francs is the variable wage payable in 2022.

However, the whole sum indicates Infantino’s income is $245,384 per month, $61,346 per week, $12,269 per day, $1,533 per hour, and $25.56 every minute.

Gianni Infantino. Photo/Robert News

WHO GIANNI INFANTINO?

Gianni Infantino is an interesting character. He is a multilingual whiz who is fluent in seven languages.

He speaks Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. The 52-year-old Swiss-Italian has more to his name other than just his prestigious FIFA  job.

Infantino was born in Brig, Switzerland, on March 23, 1970. His parents immigrated from Calabria and Lombardy to the United States as young children.

He was a sharp mind in school and he studied law at Fribourg University. As a result of his multilingualism, he is capable of conversing in several languages other than his native Italian.

WHEN DID GIANNI INFANTINO BEGIN HIS FOOTBALL CAREER?

After joining the UEFA in August 2000, Infantino was promoted to the position of Director, Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division. He held this position until January 2004.

In 2007, he was appointed as UEFA’s Deputy General Secretary. Then, in October 2009, he was appointed as the organization’s Secretary-General.

His tenure at UEFA saw the introduction of Financial Fair Play as well as an improvement in commercial support for smaller national organisations.

With the extension of UEFA Euro 2016, the competition expanded to include a total of 24 teams.

He was also involved in the design of the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA Euro 2020, which were held in then 13 (now 11) different European countries.

In response to the recent controversy and acts of violence and corruption, particularly in Greek football.

The Greek government decided to create a new sports law in 2015. As UEFA’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino oversaw the negotiations with the Greek government.

He backed the Hellenic Football Federation’s warning to Greece that it would be suspended from international football if it continued to interfere with the sport’s administration.

FIFA

Gianni Infantino was a member of FIFA’s Restructuring Commission. His candidacy for the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress was officially endorsed by the UEFA Executive Committee on October 26, 2015.

Both his confirmation and the requisite pledges of support came the same day. He promised a forty-team FIFA World Cup.

He was then elected FIFA president for a three-year tenure.  Infantino is the first Italian to serve as FIFA’s president, having been born in Switzerland to Swiss parents who also possess Italian citizenship.

When the United States imposed a travel ban on many Muslim-majority countries in 2017, Infantino voiced his displeasure.

He said: “Any FIFA team that qualifies for a World Cup, as well as their followers and officials, must be able to enter the country; otherwise, there would be no World Cup. There’s no denying it.”

After the 2018 World Cup, Vladimir Putin presented Infantino the Order of Friendship medal, which Infantino accepted in 2019.

Gianni Infantino. Photo/Robert News

HAS INFANTINO EVER HAD A SCANDAL?

In the 2016 Panama Papers, Infantino was linked to the FIFA corruption controversy. The Panama Papers reveal that there is evidence that UEFA made arrangements with charged individuals, which they had previously denied.

To his “dismay” at the reports, Infantino claims that he has never had any dealings with anybody involved in the scandal.

Infantino was examined by the FIFA Ethics Committee’s investigatory chamber in July 2016 after allegedly breaking the FIFA code of ethics.

Infantino’s unwillingness to sign the contract defining his employment relationship with FIFA was the subject of the investigation.

It was not probed because of a leaked document that exposed FIFA’s unlawful spending of funds.

He billed FIFA for personal expenses like mattresses, a stepper machine, tuxedo, flowers and washing. His family and advisors also had a driver while he was overseas, which FIFA paid him for.

Then there was this other one. There were concerns about a possible conflict of interest when Infantino accepted special treatment from Russia and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

A private jet for Infantino and his entourage to Russia and the Gulf state was provided. FIFA’s investigatory chamber found no infraction into these claims.

Critics continued to slam Infantino despite the investigatory chamber’s discharge. They argued that he failed to honour his pledges of transparency, democracy, and governance.