Gianni Infantino may well be coming to the end of his time as FIFA president.
The Swiss Icarus has seen his plans to privatise the World Cup shot down by the rest of the world, with UEFA's 55 member states uniting against him, and votes of ‘no confidence’ about to trickle in from FIFA's members.
The 56-year-old was planning to set himself up with a $30 million salary post-FIFA, according to The Times – which is substantially more than he currently pockets.
How much is Gianni Infantino worth?
According to FIFA, Infantino's base salary is around £2.39m (Fr.2.6m), with a variable salary of approximately £2m (Fr.2.2m) – and is permitted £22,1000 (Fr.24,000) in flat-rate allowances.
While figures of the FIFA president's net worth fluctuate as much as his moral compass, it's estimated that Infantino is worth at least £10m – though that could be as much as £25m.
Infantino has been in his role for a decade now, following on from a career in UEFA's upper echelons.
The son of Italian immigrants, the Inter Milan supporter studied law at the University of Fribourg, and became Secretary General of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchatel in the late 1990s.
In August 2000, Infantino was appointed as the Director of UEFA's Legal Affairs and Club Licensing Division, before stepping up to Secretary General of UEFA in October 2009, two years after landing the deputy job, where he was responsible for expanding the European Championship to 24 teams.
Shortly after his election as FIFA president in 2016 – following FIFA's corruption case of 12 months prior that had led to Sepp Blatter's downfall – Infantino was named in documents released as part of the Panama Papers leak.
Documents revealed that Infantino, while serving as UEFA’s senior legal official, co-signed a TV-rights deal with a firm later tied to the US FIFA corruption probe – a link UEFA had previously denied – with Infantino expressing “dismay” over the reports, insisting he never dealt directly with any of the indicted parties.
Infantino remains a highly contentious figure, with his image routinely booed at the 2026 World Cup.
Among his controversies, the FIFA president has been criticised for cosying up with US president Donald Trump, even inventing the nonsensical ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ award to give to his confidant, after Trump was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
FIFA’s revenue has more than doubled under Infantino's leadership, with governing body expecting to bring in $14bn during the 2027–2030 cycle, allocating approximately 20 per cent ($2.7bn) back to national member associations through its FIFA Forward initiative.
