Gianni Infantino received an additional $1.72m in 2024 from the organisation responsible for running the 2026 World Cup in the US, according to US tax records, raising questions about the disclosure of the Fifa president’s total earnings.
The payment from FWC2026, the US-based entity established by Fifa to manage and operate the tournament, was separate from the 4.274m Swiss francs (about $4.86m) Infantino received in salary and benefits from football’s world governing body that year. The additional payment was not included in Fifa’s published 2024 annual report.
Fifa’s statutes require any compensation paid to its president, council members or secretary general to be made public.
The Times first reported the payment, citing the apparent conflict with Fifa’s transparency rules. Former Fifa governance committee chairman Miguel Maduro told the newspaper that failing to disclose additional remuneration from entities connected to fifa would be “a clear contravention of the rules”.
maduro said the statutes required full transparency and argued that the compensation committee should not authorise alternative forms of remuneration outside that framework. he added that the Fifa president was entitled to a substantial salary, provided it was disclosed publicly.
A Fifa spokesperson, however, said that “Fifa fully complies with all reporting requirements and strongly rejects any suggestion there has been a violation of Fifa’s Statutes”, according to ESPN.
The payment was recorded in FWC2026’s 2024 Form 990, an annual filing required of US-based non-profit organisations. It showed that Infantino received $1.72m from the entity in addition to his Fifa earnings. The 2024 filing is the latest publicly available for FWC2026.
The disclosure adds to scrutiny of Infantino’s leadership ahead of the next meeting of the Fifa Council, scheduled for Thursday in Zurich.
Earlier this year, details emerged of a proposal to sell a 20% stake in the World Cup to outside investors led by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The initiative, called Football Forward Enterprises by Infantino, led to opposition from senior football officials.
The heads of Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation called for Infantino to resign. Uefa also threatened to boycott future Fifa events, although it later lifted the ultimatum and the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup went ahead as scheduled in September.
Infantino has since sought to repair relations with the confederation leaders. In a letter, he backed a proposal to distribute $10m to each member association.
His relationship with Trump has also attracted attention. Infantino developed close ties with the US president in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, which was co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, and made regular visits to the White House.
Another controversy concerned the disciplinary case involving the US forward Folarin Balogun during the tournament. Balogun was sent off in the United States’ 2-0 round-of-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina and was expected to miss the last-16 tie against Belgium.
After Trump called Infantino about the suspension, Balogun was placed on probation rather than serving the expected ban, allowing him to play against Belgium. The United States later lost the match 4-1.
