Infantino’s joke about England fans proved he’s the King of Cringe

Gianni Infantino likes to put his foot in his mouth so much that one can only assume he enjoys the taste. To the surprise of no one, football’s King of Cringe was at it again when he climbed on his soapbox at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

The FIFA president is one of those excruciating characters who persists in thinking he is humorous even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The only people who laugh at his ‘jokes’ are sycophants and placemen, of whom there are legion.

In Switzerland, Infantino faced what has become a familiar task for him in his time in charge of football’s governing body when he got up to try to defend the indefensible. In this particular case, he was attempting unsuccessfully to justify the extortionate prices FIFA are asking fans to pay at this summer’s World Cup.

And so, taking his cue from his latest hero and newest best friend, President Trump, he decided to deflect. The target of his deflection was, ostensibly, ‘Brit’ football fans and their behaviour at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a tournament which Infantino said spread joy and magic.

‘For the first time in history also,’ Infantino said, looking very pleased with the joke he was about to make, ‘no Brit was arrested during a World Cup. Imagine. This is something really, really special.’ There were, inevitably, a few titters from obedient idiots dotted around the auditorium.

Let’s not pretend that England fans, in particular, are above criticism. They are not. There have been some occasions during the last 40 years where a minority has behaved like thugs and braggarts at major tournaments.

Scenes of violence in Marseille at the World Cup in France in 1998 and widespread hooliganism in Belgium during Euro 2000 were episodes that shamed English football and prompted governments and the police to tackle the problem.

The result is that there have been very few issues with the behaviour of England fans at successive World Cups in Japan and South Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar. The situation is far from perfect but the vast majority of England fans, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland fans, cause no problems.

The issue here is not that ‘Brit’ fans should be above criticism or subject to as many jokes as people want to hurl. The issue is that it feels galling to be the butt of a joke made by a man like Infantino.

In his 10 years at the head of FIFA, he made many people who love football ashamed of football. He has energetically and enthusiastically courted some of the most repressive regimes in the world and made football their vassal state.

He is fresh, too, from the low-point of shaming the sport he purports to lead by bestowing on President Trump a gaudy, tasteless and entirely inappropriate FIFA Peace Prize, in a pathetic and demeaning attempt to curry favour with a man stung by not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Football almost died of embarrassment that day last month when Infantino presented Trump with a trophy, a medal and a certificate. Infantino turned football into a peasant paying tribute to a nobleman. He turned football into a vehicle for cheap flattery.

It was not long after that ceremony that the American president stepped up his threats to invade Greenland and one of his ICE agents killed a mother of three in Minneapolis by shooting her three times in the head as she drove her car away from him.

There is also increasing nervousness within football that Infantino’s love-affair with Trump is putting the World Cup at risk. 

His posturing over Greenland raised the prospect of some teams considering a boycott of the tournament. It would be a surprise, given Trump’s penchant for brinksmanship, if more crises do not arise between now and June.

So, taking a pop at England and Wales fans because you don’t like the criticism that has come your way from the British media for the price you are asking people to pay to watch a game, feels rather misplaced in the circumstances. What else do you expect from the King of Cringe?