FIFA are engulfed in an unprecedented financial and political crisis. A bill worth 185 million pounds owed to clubs has gone unpaid, leaving the fate of the 2029 Club World Cup in the balance and threatening the tournament's outright cancellation, all while president Gianni Infantino faces direct demands for his dismissal.
Debts first: 185 million pounds unpaid
Mounting debt sits at the root of it all. According to Britain's "Express", the 32 clubs that took part in the 2025 edition in the United States received their dues. But a sum of 185 million pounds, earmarked as "solidarity payments" for clubs that did not participate, remains outstanding without a single pound of it having been paid.
FIFA had pledged to distribute 50,000 pounds to every top-flight club around the world, ensuring the grassroots of the game would share in the returns of a tournament that reaped 740 million pounds in broadcasting rights through the DAZN platform.
Months after the final whistle, those promises have curdled into accumulating debts. The anger has spread across world football, and FIFA's financial credibility is now in serious doubt.
The gravest threat: cancelling the 2029 Club World Cup
This scandal has not stopped at anger. It now threatens the very existence of the tournament, with the 2029 edition hanging by a thread for two main reasons:
1- Collapse of trust: the failure to pay the "solidarity bill" shattered FIFA's credibility in the eyes of clubs, and made an agreement with the major European clubs to participate in the upcoming edition almost impossible.
2- No host country: so far, no agreement has been reached on the host country, and no serious negotiations have begun, and despite countries such as Brazil, Germany, England and Australia signalling their interest, the file is completely frozen.
Behind the scenes, one scenario now dominates: postponing or cancelling the tournament if FIFA fails to settle its debts and rebuild trust with the clubs. That would bury the project Infantino has described since 2016 as "his personal project".
Infantino: from the throne to the brink of dismissal
Every thread tightens the noose around Gianni Infantino's neck. The Swiss-Italian president did not merely misjudge the reactions to his plan to sell stakes in FIFA's tournaments to investors. He then compounded it with a financial disaster in his management of the Club World Cup.
Fury peaked when UEFA explicitly demanded his dismissal, an unprecedented move since he assumed the post. He may survive the vote this time, but his authority has been eroded. His ability to push through any decisive decision, including expanding the tournaments, has become almost non-existent.