Infantino under pressure after second £1.3m salary revealed

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is under increasing pressure to resign after it was revealed that he received an undeclared second salary of £1.3m in 2024.

FIFA has committed to publishing Infantino's salary, bonus and allowances in its annual report every year since 2016.

For 2024, he reported £3.88m ($5.1m) in salary but US tax filings show he also received £1.3m ($1.76m) from FWC2026, the company set up to organise and run this summer's World Cup, which was not publicly disclosed by FIFA in the annual report.

Article 43, paragraph 13 of FIFA's statutes reads: "The individual compensation of the FIFA president, the members of the council and the FIFA secretary general shall be made public."

When asked for comment, FIFA said: "The FIFA president's annual compensation, as well as other contractual benefits, are decided by the FIFA compensation sub-committee.

"FIFA contributes to social charges, pension fund and other contractual employee benefits for the president, as mentioned in the FIFA annual report. These benefits are reported to the US authorities in line with reporting requirements."

FIFA's secretary general Mattias Grafstrom received no extra payment from FWC2026, and neither did CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, even though he chaired the FWC2026 board.

The US Internal Revenue Service filing which includes details of Infantino's undeclared second 2024 salary was first reported by The Times .

On Thursday, Infantino will meet the other 36 members of the FIFA Council in Zurich for the first time since he tried to part-privatise FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, behind their backs.

Infantino's presidency has become mired in scandal and controversy, but he is refusing to resign despite losing the support of UEFA and some federations in North America and Asia.

He believes he has enough support to be re-elected in March next year, especially in Africa and South America.

No challenger who has a chance of beating him has emerged so far. Former Tottenham and Switzerland defender Ramon Vega wants to stand but he is unlikely to receive the backing of the five federations he needs to become an official candidate. Candidates have until November 18 to declare their intention to stand.

Infantino has been re-elected unopposed in the past two elections - in 2019 and 2023 - since he beat four other candidates to become president in 2016.

FIFA presidents are not allowed to remain in post for more than three terms, but Infantino is being allowed to stand again because FIFA is claiming his initial three-year term - from 2016 to 2019 - does not count towards their three-term limit.

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