Politicians, private jets and power - the life of a Fifa president

Gianni Infantino stepped off a plane in Cali and was greeted on the runway by the president of the Colombian Football Federation.

Ramon Jesurun, a close ally of Infantino's, saw it as a chance to show his support, with the two men smiling in a photo opportunity for the federation's Instagram account.

Infantino had not travelled to Colombia for any run-of-the-mill meeting on Friday. He would attend the inauguration of the country's new president Abelardo de la Espriella.

Infantino was accompanied by Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South America's football governing body Conmebol, who praised both his record and the "enormously successful" 2026 World Cup, saying "we stand with Gianni".

This is the life of a Fifa president.

It involves building ties with some of the most powerful people in the world, shown by Infantino's relationship with US President Donald Trump.

Before the biggest scandal to hit his tenure - the aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise plan - Infantino was an incredibly powerful figure who appeared bulletproof.

Now, after an apology and stated desire to withstand the backlash of his plan to sell a stake in the men's World Cup to private equity firms, Infantino appears to be trying to return to business as usual.

Uefa's threat to boycott Fifa tournaments still stands. That will be tested with the Fifa Under-20 World Cup set to kick off in Poland in 29 days.

Perhaps emboldened by the support he has received from outside Europe in recent days, Infantino is not going to stand down easily.

But what exactly is the role of the Fifa president?

Statesman-like travel to oversee global game

A cavalcade of blacked out Mercedes, flanked by police cars, rolled into the Fifa headquarters in Rabat, Morocco, earlier this week.

Infantino had summoned a select few members of the Fifa management board to discuss his plan to sell off 21% of the commercial and ticketing business to a private equity firm.

This is how the Swiss-Italian travels - in between flights on the Qatar Airways Executive jet which has been made available to him. The plane enabled him to take up to three flights a day, watching two games, throughout the 2026 World Cup.

That type of arrival does look presidential - only more like a president of a country than a sports body.

It enables him to travel the globe, visiting Fifa's official offices like Rabat, where he was based over the past week as the Fifa Forward Enterprise controversy developed.

In his role Infantino is expected to visit the 211 member nations, to see the grassroots projects Fifa has funded.

Part of his remit is to unify football, which cannot be achieved from within the Fifa headquarters in Zurich.

It requires international travel to attend confederation meetings, and the global tournaments Fifa organises. Infantino needs to build relationships with officials and politicians.

In April, before the Fifa Congress in Vancouver, local authorities rejected a request for a level-four motorcade, usually reserved for heads of state or the Pope.

New Zealand police said they had declined a similar request during the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Alongside the cavalcade of cars and the private charter flights comes a large salary, too, three times what he first earned when elected in 2016.

Infantino, who was paid about £1.3m 10 years ago, now takes home about £4m - a base salary of £2.2m plus a confirmed variable bonus payment of £1.8m.

His predecessor Sepp Blatter was paid a £2.6m package for his final year as Fifa president.

Infantino gets a 'per diem' too to cover expenses and living costs, worth £20,500 a year on top of his salary.

As the head of the most popular sport in the world, it should be expected that there is a wage to match.

Infantino would argue that by driving record revenues and funding for member associations, he has proven he is worth the salary.

How Infantino grew close to Trump

Infantino's alliance with Trump seemed to have elevated his status even further.

Many in world football felt that this began to come at the expense of his responsibilities in football.

In May 2025, Infantino had been on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East with Trump and turned up two hours late for the Fifa Congress in Paraguay.

Uefa accused Infantino of prioritising "private political interests" and staged a walk-out.

There was also the Fifa Peace Prize, awarded to Trump weeks before the US invaded Venezuela to depose president Nicolas Maduro and launched air attacks on Iran.

Despite criticism, the Fifa ethics committee did not respond to complaints about Infantino's political neutrality over the prize.