Times Square billboard screams for Infantino to go; FIFA boss ducks questions in Poland
September 7 – Last Friday the protests against FIFA president Gianni Infantino staying in post took to the streets with a giant billboard in in Times Square, New York, demanding his removal. On Saturday he made what is now a rare public appearance in Poland at the U20 Women’s World Cup.
The fans’ billboard, reportedly paid for by a fan group, went live at 6am at the corner of Broadway and West 43rd Street.
Infantino in the space of a month went from the ever-present hero of the 2026 World Cup, a man who was pictured and name-checked multiple times in live broadcasts (a FIFA stipulation to broadcast rights holders), to public enemy number one after his failed to attempt to sell off the World Cup commercial rights and secure himself a lucrative new position in the new private equity funded company.
Organisers behind the Times Square billboard said: “Gianni Infantino is not a leader, he is a dealer who tried to sell the World Cup and more disturbingly, the children’s World Cup. We should all be shocked and disgusted by the latter.”
The messages flashing across the billboard included: ‘FIFA DESERVES A LEADER NOT A DEALER’ and ‘SOCCER CONFEDERATIONS: REMOVE INFANTINO’.
The ignominy may be hurting Infantino – who is notoriously sensitive to all forms of media and criticism – and driven him underground, but he did manage a rare appearance in Poland on Saturday.
Confronted by reporters he refused to answer questions about his future as FIFA president and why he had refused to resign following calls from federations, football stakeholders and even governmental bodies over the FIFA Football Enterprise scandal. He has so far refused to call an emergency meeting of the FIFA Council to explain his FFE actions.
“There will be a lot to say, but there will be a right place and a right time to say this. It’s not today, it’s not here, but here and today, we are enjoying football,” Infantino told broadcaster Sky News as he arrived at the stadium where Poland faced Argentina on the opening day of the tournament Saturday. Infantino was seen in the stands talking to Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza.
Ten days ago Infantino was hit by a legal motion for discovery in the US, demanding all communications around the FFE plan for a potential criminal action against him and his co-conspirators. On Thursday he counter filed in the US to dismiss the discovery proceedings, accusing UEFA of running a “smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership”.
UEFA have not responded to Infantino’s filing, but one insider said: “If they have nothing to hide, why attempt to hide it?”
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