NFF President, Gusau, Hails 10 Years of Infantino’s Watch at FIFA

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

As FIFA President, Gianni Infantino marks his 10th anniversary at the helms of world football governing body, President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alh Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has sent goodwill messages to the Swiss national for his remarkable decade of leadership.

In this special message posted on X (Twitter) late yesterday, Gusau celebrated “10 years of visionary stewardship, progressive reforms, and unwavering commitment to the global growth of football. 

Gusau who also doubles as WAFU B President, “acknowledged and appreciate the continued partnership and shared dedication to advancing the beautiful game worldwide” under Infantino’s watch at FIFA.

Infantino was first elected FIFA President in 2016. He was again re-elected in same role in 2019 and 2023.

As FIFA President,  the 2018 and 2022 men’s World Cups held under his watch and is also preparing to lead the football world governing body in witnessing the first ever 48-team format Mundial in USA, Canada and Mexico this coming summer. World Cup 2026 will give more countries the opportunity to realise their dream, thus triggering a massive development at local level. Infantino also played a key role in Saudi Arabia given the hosting rights for the 2030 edition of the World Cup.

The FIFA Forward programme has contributed over USD5 billion to football development across all 211 member associations since 2016, a sevenfold increase compared to the pre-2016 period.

A much greater proportion of FIFA’s revenues (which have not risen at the same rate) is now being put back into the game. This increase in investment is a consequence of the new FIFA being more efficient, well governed and fit for purpose.

Without FIFA’s support, there would be no tournament football in 150 member countries, as they simply wouldn’t have the resources to develop the necessary infrastructure and promote the training and support of teams and players.

The new 32 team FIFA Club World Cup was a resounding success: Almost 2.5 million fans passed through the turnstiles (average attendance of 39,547) and based on analysis by Nielsen Sports, an estimated 2.7 billion fans viewed content across all forms of media. 

On the growth seen in the women’s game under Infantino, the first 32-team instalment of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, was a resounding success and clearly vindicated the enlargement. Building on the momentum generated, the competition will be further expanded to 48 teams as of 2031.

FIFA under Infantino significantly increased its investment in the Women’s World Cup, for example with USD 152 million distributed in prize money in 2023 – treble the amount paid in 2019 and ten times more than in 2015 – and overall service levels for players are now matching the men’s World Cup.

According to former Super Falcons forward, Desire Oparanozie, since coming on board, the evolution of women’s football from 2016 to today has been marked by rapid growth and professionalization under Gianni Infantino.

Oparanozie described the introduction of a payment structure for players at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, of which she  was a beneficiary, as “groundbreaking”.

 “It guaranteed every participating player a minimum of $30,000 USD and a maximum of $270,000 each for members of the champion squad. In all four World Cups I’ve played, the 2023 one was a reward for years of hard work for African players, especially Nigerian players.

 “For the first time FIFA directly paid players, rather than channeling prize money solely through federations, aiming to ensure athletes receive fair compensation for their efforts. Thanks to FIFA for this major step toward gender equity in sports.”

Apart from increase in the use of technology under Infantino watch, FIFA was able to fundamentally transform itself from a toxic organisation into a respected and trusted global sports governing body that is focused on its mandate to develop football all around the world. This has been achieved through deeply rooted governance and financial management reform, with a clear emphasis on transparency.

The comprehensive change operated by FIFA has been recognised by the US Department of Justice, which awarded USD 201 million to the FIFA Foundation as compensation for the losses suffered by FIFA as a result of decades of corruption in football.

International organisations and sponsors now want to be associated with FIFA.

Thanks to its good governance, FIFA was able to support its Member Associations and global football during the COVID-19 pandemic by making USD 1.5 billion available through the COVID-19 Relief Plan.

FIFA has also implemented a thorough reform of the transfer system, including the introduction of the FIFA Clearing House, through which more than USD 500 million in training rewards has already been allocated and over USD 300 million has been distributed to 7,000 clubs from across the world.