BOOKS
THIS
MONTH
THE O’LEARY YEARS
By Rocco Dean (Pitch
Publishing, £16.99)The O’Leary Years
charts the rise and fall
ofLeedsUnitedatthe
turn of the 21st century.
The journey lasted four
seasons under David
O’Leary, each one a
rollercoaster, and the
often-scorned club
enjoyed popularity like
never before. But things
are never straightforward
at Elland Road. Off-the-
pitch controversies
and a “spend, spend,
spend” attitude would
eventually bring the
club to its knees, but
not before it was one
match from reaching its
holy grail: a European
Cup final rematch with
Bayern Munich.WEST HAM UNITED
ByJack Fawbert (Pitch
Publishing, £16.99)West Ham United:
From East End Family
to Globalised Fandom
is the story of the
evolution of West Ham.
It charts how a works
football team was
transformed into a
club that represented
east London’s working
classes, only to be
transformed again in the
late 20th and early 21st
centuries into a global
brand with supporters
in every habitable
place on Earth.GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE
UEFA had to come up in a hurry
with an alternative candidate for the
FIFA presidency to “protect its own
interests”. None of Europe’s high-flying
FA presidents wanted it and thus chose
Infantino to fight the battle for them.
Infantino, once enthroned, set to
work with a will. His job had almost
been done for him. US justice,
FIFA’s briefly-independent ethics
committee and a reform programme
cleaned out the exco (subsequently
convertedand expanded intoa
rubber-stamp FIFA Council).
Along the way Infantino threw
overboard all senior staff from the
Blatter regime, including men and
women who had tried to distance
themselves from their superiors’
venality. He raided UEFA for senior
officials on whose loyalty he could
count and created the Legends
programme for compliant old
heroes to trot out his party line
to a star-struck football media.
Infantino made a priority of
rebuilding FIFA’s tarnished image and
sent a dramatic signal of intent to the
rest of the world by appointing Fatma
Samoura – a black, Muslim, African
woman – as secretary-general. UEFA
was discovering, to its chagrin, that
Infantino was not its puppet.
Infantino was duly re-elected
unopposed in 2019 and can look
back on a variety of successes.
Internally he streamlined the FIFA
committees, concentrated power
in the bureau (himself and the six
confederations presidents) and set up
a satellite office in Paris with plans for
more in London and the US.
As for the financially all-important
World Cup, he presided over a highly
successful finals in Russia, the
introduction of VAR, a raft of new
sponsors then the expansion to
48 teams for a first triple hosting in
Canada, Mexico and the US in 2026.
To ensure everything goes to plan in
Qatar later this year he and his family
have set up home in Doha where he
plans to spend half his time.
Politically, Infantino’s focus is
Africa with its all-important 54 votes.
He supported Madagascar’s Ahmed
Ahmed in ousting long-serving Issa
Hayatou as CAF president but soon
realised he had backed the wrong
horse. South Africa billionaire
Patrice Motsepe is now proving
a more pliant successor.
Infantino has plenty of goodies
in store if only CAF can pull its act
together. Think African Super League
(more on that on page 56) for starters.
Never mind that Infantino lined up
dutifully with UEFA in deriding the
concept for Europe.
In the wider sphere Infantino has led
football into and out of the COVID-
pandemic, attained membership of the
International Olympic Committee and
strutted his stuff at gatherings of the
United Nations, European Parliament,
Council of Europe and even the
World Economic Forum in Davos.
Critics may have derided his
appearances in such diverse theatres
as egotistical masquerades. However,
from the other side of the looking
glass, whatever personal pride he may
glean serves his mission to see FIFA
re-established as a trustworthy partner
on the grand international stage.
This is important but, in terms of
media headlines, has been outweighed
by the two issues which have stoked
European fury.
The first, early in Infantino’s
presidency, was his misjudged secret
attempt to find a cash guarantor for an
expanded Club World Cup. The project
effectively vanished from sight after
the calendar shuffles prompted byCOVID and may not see the light
of day again for a very long time.
Few tears have been shed.
Currently Infantino is entangled
needlessly in what should have been
a comparatively simple reform of the
international match calendar. This
project fell foul of a distractingly
unnecessary proposal to stage
the World Cup every two years.
All this may yet pale beyond what
threatens to provide the greatest
test of Infantino’s political skills and
judgment. As president of FIFA
he will have to take the ultimate
position on what was once defined
by Winston Churchill as “a riddle,
wrapped in a mystery, inside an
enigma.” That is, Russia.
No keeping up the pretence about
separating sport and politics here
after the military invasion of Ukraine.
Infantino should become more wary
about all those photo-opportunities
portraying him happily glad-handing
the likes of Vladimir Putin and
Mohammed bin Salman.
How Infantino responds may define
his presidency and his presidential
personality. He lacks the father-figure
benevolence of Rimet or the patrician
authority of Sir Stanley Rous or the
glowering gravitas of Havelange or
the bouncy bonhomie of Blatter. He
is a leader for a technocratic age and
how that era will evolve who can tell?
At least Infantino, if nothing else,
has time on his side.Rubbing shoulders...Infantino and Russia president Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2018 World Cup