• Home
  • Politics
  • Health
  • World
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
What's Hot

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

May 9, 2025

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Friday, May 9
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
  • Home
  • Politics

    Security video shows brazen sexual assault of California woman by homeless man

    October 24, 2023

    Woman makes disturbing discovery after her boyfriend chases away home intruder who stabbed him

    October 24, 2023

    Poll finds Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s war on Hamas, but younger Americans defend Hamas

    October 24, 2023

    Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut off engines midflight on Alaska Airlines

    October 23, 2023

    Leaked audio of Shelia Jackson Lee abusively cursing staffer

    October 22, 2023
  • Health

    Disparities In Cataract Care Are A Sorry Sight

    October 16, 2023

    Vaccine Stocks—Including Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech And Novavax—Slide Amid Plummeting Demand

    October 16, 2023

    Long-term steroid use should be a last resort

    October 16, 2023

    Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy With More ‘Underperforming Stores’ To Close

    October 16, 2023

    Who’s Still Dying From Complications Related To Covid-19?

    October 16, 2023
  • World

    New York Democrat Dan Goldman Accuses ‘Conservatives in the South’ of Holding Rallies with ‘Swastikas’

    October 13, 2023

    IDF Ret. Major General Describes Rushing to Save Son, Granddaughter During Hamas Invasion

    October 13, 2023

    Black Lives Matter Group Deletes Tweet Showing Support for Hamas 

    October 13, 2023

    AOC Denounces NYC Rally Cheering Hamas Terrorism: ‘Unacceptable’

    October 13, 2023

    L.A. Prosecutors Call Out Soros-Backed Gascón for Silence on Israel

    October 13, 2023
  • Business

    Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

    May 8, 2025

    Electric Vehicle Sales Nosedive As GOP Takes Buzzsaw To Biden’s Mandate

    May 7, 2025

    Tyson Foods Announces It Will Bend The Knee To Trump Admin’s New Rules

    May 7, 2025

    Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady Despite Pressure From Trump

    May 7, 2025

    ‘Wait Them Out’: John Kennedy Tells Larry Kudlow One Lie He Suspects China’s Telling US

    May 7, 2025
  • Finance

    Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

    April 17, 2025

    The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

    April 17, 2025

    Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

    April 17, 2025

    How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

    April 16, 2025

    The US Flip-flop Over H20 Chip Restrictions 

    April 16, 2025
  • Tech

    Cruz Confronts Zuckerberg on Pointless Warning for Child Porn Searches

    February 2, 2024

    FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

    February 2, 2024

    Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

    February 2, 2024

    Tesla’s Elon Musk Tops Disney’s Bob Iger as Most Overrated Chief Executive

    February 2, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Grew $84 Billion in 2023 as Pedophiles Target Children on Facebook, Instagram

    February 2, 2024
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
Home»Sports»FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Presses for Equal Pay at World Cup
Sports

FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Presses for Equal Pay at World Cup

March 17, 2023No Comments7 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Presses for Equal Pay at World Cup
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Gianni Infantino, a contentious figure in the soccer world, secured a new term on Thursday as the president of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, after an election in which he was the only candidate.

Infantino, 52, was crowned for another four years by acclamation, with representatives from all but a small number of FIFA’s 211 national federations rising to applaud at FIFA’s annual meeting, held this year in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.

But perhaps the biggest revelation of the day concerned women’s soccer. Upon re-election, Infantino announced that FIFA would increase the prize money for this year’s Women’s World Cup to $110 million and provide millions more to participating teams in preparation funds, vowing to equalize prize money with the men’s event by the time the next tournaments are played. The increase, Infantino said, was 10 times more than when the tournament was played in 2015 and three times more than the previous edition in 2019.

After rising from relative obscurity, Infantino became soccer’s top leader in 2016 after a huge corruption scandal that mired FIFA in probably the biggest crisis in its history.

FIFA rules drawn up by a group that included Infantino limit presidents to three terms of four years, but on the eve of last year’s World Cup final, he said that a review had “clarified” that his first three years in office did not count, allowing him potentially to run FIFA through 2031.

Infantino took office after his longtime predecessor Sepp Blatter was forced out after just one year of his latest four year term.

After confirmation of his re-election, Infantino appeared to recognize that he was not universally popular. “Those who love me, I know there are so many, and those who hate me, I know there are a few,” he said. “I love you all.”

Later on at a news conference he accused the media of being “mean” toward him.

See also  17-Year-Old Georgia High School Football Player Found Dead Day Before State Championship Game

While Infantino’s time in office has stabilized the governing body, his tenure has also been marked by curious public statements and bruising battles with some of soccer’s biggest stakeholders, including clubs, leagues and unions.

He has also been at the center of a power struggle with European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, where he had been the top administrator before his elevation to FIFA president.

FIFA has been in an almost constant conflict with UEFA since 2018, when Infantino tried to push through a $25 billion sale of new events, including an expanded World Cup for clubs that was considered a rival to UEFA’s hugely popular Champions League.

Since then, there have been other skirmishes, too, particularly when Infantino tried to push a proposal to switch the quadrennial World Cup to a biennial event. Infantino and UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, now rarely speak.

But this week, among the delegates at the FIFA gathering in Kigali, Infantino has appeared in his element. Many of the governing body’s member nations are relatively small or midsize countries that are heavily reliant on FIFA’s largess for much of their income.

Infantino also has a reputation for showcasing his relationships with politicians — including the likes of Donald J. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. In Kigali, he was joined at the congress by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

In his opening remarks on Thursday, Infantino recalled how he had traveled to Rwanda to lobby African officials during his first campaign to become FIFA president eight years ago. After being told that he could not count on their support, he said that he had been on the verge of pulling out.

But, he said, a visit to a memorial to the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide had “inspired” him to stay in the race, noting how well the country had rebounded in the intervening years. He later denied making the comparison, suggesting later his words had been misinterpreted.

See also  World Bank's new chief wants 'better bank' before pushing for bigger bank

Infantino courted controversy on the eve of the World Cup in Qatar last year with an extraordinary speech in which he lashed out at Western critics of the decision to stage the tournament in the Middle East for the first time. In Kigali, he found an ally in Kagame, who used his speech to back Infantino, making similar references to “constant hypocritical criticism.”

“Instead of asking why is it being held there, first ask, ‘Why not?’” Kagame said. “Unless we are talking about a kind of entitlement that only some of us from this bloc deserve to enjoy, it’s about keeping some people in their place, but that kind of attitude should have been left far behind in history by now.”

Critics of the Qatar World Cup had highlighted the deaths and mistreatment of workers hired for the grand construction projects that were built for the tournament, including several stadiums. Others drew attention to the country’s broader human rights record. Infantino was unmoved, describing the tournament as the “best ever.”

The FIFA conference in Kigali has offered a microcosm of Infantino’s presidency. He was feted by local politicians and national soccer executives, but drew criticism once more from farther afield.

An announcement this week that the 2026 World Cup in North America, the first 48-team tournament and the first expansion of the event since 1998, would be extended further by adding 24 games more than planned was met by fury from groups representing leagues around the world.

They offered what has become a familiar rebuke of Infantino’s FIFA: that the governing body announces major changes without consulting the groups involved.

But his declaration about plans to boost women’s soccer will almost certainly hearten supporters of the game, who have long been lobbying FIFA to equalize the pay and treatment between male and female players at their respective tournaments.

See also  LIV-PGA Merger a Major Win for Saudi Arabia's Campaign to Dominate World Sports

As well as the prize money boost, players at the 32-team World Cup this year will be afforded exactly the same conditions as male players received in Qatar, which include a room for each player and allowing each delegation to travel with as many as 50 members. Infantino said there is likely to be a cap on the amount of the prize money team members could receive, with a significant amount expected to be earmarked to develop soccer.

Still, in four years the pay would need to more than double to reach the $440 million paid out to teams at the World Cup in Qatar. That could be achieved, Infantino said, if broadcasters dipped into their pockets to buy women’s soccer rights, saying FIFA received less than 100 times the amount it did for the men’s World Cup even though the appeal of women’s tournaments had grown exponentially in recent years.

Earlier, delegates were asked to show their support for Infantino, the FIFA president made another speech outlining the organization’s achievements and the ways in which it had successfully staged the World Cup and planned for new ones.

He also reminded officials that FIFA had budgeted for record revenues of $11 billion over a four-year cycle to 2026, a figure that he said “will increase further by a few billion.”

At voting time, Infantino was backed by most of the room, including by delegates from his fiercest critics, such as the federations of the Netherlands and of England.

The Norwegian delegation, however, followed through on a promise not to rise to acclaim him, with its president, Lise Klaveness, saying on the eve of the election that Infantino had “failed to walk the talk” on his promised reforms.

Cup Equal FIFAs Gianni Infantino pay Presses World
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

What the US Exit From the Information Technology Agreement Means for America and the World

April 14, 2025

Markets Plunge In First Hours Of Trading After Trump Slaps Tariffs On World

April 3, 2025

Will Uzbekistan’s 31-Year Effort to Join the WTO Finally Pay Off?

March 12, 2025

101 Inspirational Earth Day Quotes to Help Us Appreciate Our World and Make It a Better Place

March 7, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

Biden and Democrats Saw Campaign Donations Dry Up When the Cameras Stopped Rolling

September 27, 2023

DPZ, DKNG, LCID, SPWR and more

July 12, 2023

In areas with more Black doctors, Black people live longer

April 14, 2023

Gigi Sohn’s Anti-Police Bias Should Disqualify Her for FCC

February 17, 2023
Don't Miss

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

Lifestyle May 9, 2025

I love the beach. Just looking at the calming sea to relax. Having fun in…

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025

Top 10 Benefits Of Acupuncture

May 8, 2025
About
About

This is your World, Tech, Health, Entertainment and Sports website. We provide the latest breaking news straight from the News industry.

We're social. Connect with us:

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Categories
  • Business (4,110)
  • Entertainment (4,220)
  • Finance (3,202)
  • Health (1,938)
  • Lifestyle (1,627)
  • Politics (3,084)
  • Sports (4,036)
  • Tech (2,006)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • World (3,944)
Our Picks

‘The Good Doctor’ Renewed for Season 7 at ABC

April 19, 2023

Explainer: Why the US offshore wind industry is in the doldrums

September 7, 2023

PMO’s Post On African Union’s Entry

September 9, 2023
Popular Posts

Short and Funny Sayings for a Happy Summer with Friends

May 9, 2025

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025
© 2025 Patriotnownews.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.