TRTWORLD — The Newsmakers
20260806 063000 UTC
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[00:00:11] World, I'm lequesa Burek
[00:00:12] a remind of our top stories today. Iran says it's reached
[00:00:16] an understanding with Oman a route for ships transiting the straight
[00:00:20] of Homos, but Terran has also warned that an
[00:00:24] agreement does
[00:00:25] of not guarantee safe passage through the straight due to the
[00:00:28] US naval. Meanwile officials in Washington had
[00:00:32] hoped an agreement to open the straight would happen this week. President
[00:00:36] Trump saying talks with Iran asteral ongoing despite Teran
[00:00:40] denying holding direct negotiations with the
[00:00:44] US.
[00:00:46] a I can say that the latest
[00:00:48] of situation is that almost all
[00:00:52] me of the topics are under discussion, the map, the transit roots, the entering and exiting of maritime
[00:00:56] traffic and those biliteral site agreements with Oman.
[00:01:00] because it's not just map, these fundamental agreements with oman have
[00:01:03] been mostly
[00:01:07] a completed, we were all set for the biggest attack since World War II, and
[00:01:11] they called
[00:01:12] of me and they said, please don't do it, let's talk, and then they don't, they said, we never
[00:01:15] said that, what, the fake news knows they
[00:01:19] did say that, but we are talking, let's see
[00:01:21] what happens, Israel's continued
[00:01:25] challing in southern Lebanon has wounded at least four people in overnight
[00:01:29] strike. These attacks come after
[00:01:31] of two
[00:01:31] of Israeli soldiers were killed in a landmine explosion in
[00:01:37] in of majidal. The strikes also hit targets inside designated pilot zone. All of this
[00:01:41] taking place whilst delegates from both countries are in Rome
[00:01:44] discussing the next phase of a gradual Israeli
[00:01:48] withdrawal from southern Lebanon under a US broken
[00:01:51] mechanism. The Ukrainian
[00:01:55] President Voladimir Zelenski has once again appealed to
[00:01:58] European allies for. more support, urgent support
[00:02:02] following Russian
[00:02:03] of strikes. Zelensky says Moscow wants to further escalate the conflict
[00:02:07] with ballistic
[00:02:09] of missiles. At least 20 people have been killed and dozens injured in
[00:02:13] Russian strikes across Ukraine since
[00:02:15] Wednesday. And Myanmar's leader is in
[00:02:19] Thailand on an official visit as Bangkok pushes for re-engagement with its
[00:02:22] wartorn neighbor and regional block Asian. Its leaders have
[00:02:26] beered from summits
[00:02:28] of ASEAN summit since 2021 with. staged a coup against
[00:02:32] the elected
[00:02:32] in government of angsang su chi leading to civil war that killed an
[00:02:36] estimated 100 thousand people. the news
[00:02:39] continues right here on TRT World after be on the
[00:02:43] in game.
[00:02:49] of of of
[00:02:56] of
[00:03:05] a
[00:03:10] Hey there, I'm talhud Duman and welcome to a special edition of Beyond
[00:03:14] the
[00:03:14] me Game where we're going to look at how FIFA President Gianni Infantino did his
[00:03:18] best icchorus impression. Now it hasn't even been a month since
[00:03:22] the most lucrative world cup in history and the boss of world
[00:03:25] football already had more Benjamins on his
[00:03:29] a mind. Mantino pushing his money-making plans a bridge too far, a
[00:03:33] bit too soon, maybe, which in turn looks like it could make his
[00:03:37] house of football cards
[00:03:38] in come
[00:03:40] of crumbling down. Join
[00:03:41] of us as we unpack how we got there, what FIFA's future holds
[00:03:44] and if there's a way for
[00:03:46] of the
[00:03:47] in beautiful game to print
[00:03:48] in more cash in perhaps more ethical ways, but first to
[00:03:51] understand the fallout, let's trace the sets, get
[00:03:54] a recap of events, a timeline of very busy
[00:03:58] week in the world of
[00:03:59] of football. my colleague,
[00:04:03] in July 2026, FIFA held the final
[00:04:06] of their biggest ever World Cup. While Spain would claim the top prize in
[00:04:10] a football, something bigger was being plotted in the background. Two weeks
[00:04:13] later, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino proposed to sell off
[00:04:17] 20%
[00:04:18] of their tournaments, including the World Cup, to a group of
[00:04:21] investors which had ties to the US president Donald
[00:04:24] Trump. Well, FIFA 4R Enterprise
[00:04:28] or FFE.
[00:04:31] of is uh actually a proposal, an offer, it's part
[00:04:35] of
[00:04:36] of democratic
[00:04:37] of process,
[00:04:38] in a consultation process and above
[00:04:41] all, it is an opportunity, but
[00:04:45] not an obligation. immediate
[00:04:49] backlash, uefa almost instantly announced that they would not
[00:04:53] participate
[00:04:54] in any fifa event until the proposed fifa
[00:04:56] of forward enterprise plan was scrapped. con
[00:05:00] and the AFC for lodd suit, falling short of joining a
[00:05:03] boycott, and the
[00:05:05] of confederations of want the only ones voicing
[00:05:10] of of concerns. I didn't like lot of decision of... in the last
[00:05:14] couple of years, football for sure is for for
[00:05:17] the people, for the fans, no doubt, the way
[00:05:20] we we love it is is this way, and we have seen a great world cup and
[00:05:24] and something that they stay the same way, it's it's good, so to
[00:05:27] defend the interest from all the people, in short, with
[00:05:31] infantino lacking the votes, fifa scrapped the whole
[00:05:34] thing, but the domino effect, which saw many the top football
[00:05:38] associations withdraw support until he resigns, had already star
[00:05:43] did: if you look at what the other, the two presidents
[00:05:47] before, infantino, avalanche and
[00:05:50] blatter started in different in different ways,
[00:05:54] trying to be managing
[00:05:58] fifa like dictatorship, it's just gone to
[00:06:02] another level now, i think, no backing from the world's
[00:06:06] biggest footballing bodies and potential legal
[00:06:08] ramifications means the clock is ticking for football's head.
[00:06:13] show which could paint very different picture of Infantino's
[00:06:16] rain, one where in the span of 10 years he went from
[00:06:20] stating that he wanted to leave a positive everlasting message to
[00:06:24] being accused of selling football soul. Erking Kabul,
[00:06:28] TRT wild. Okay, so with FIFA President Jenny
[00:06:31] Infantino officially in the hot seat, even though he scrapped the
[00:06:35] whole commercial enterprise idea. The next question is, if he gets
[00:06:39] austed or doesn't get support, who could replace? and there are
[00:06:43] few names being floated, let's look at him for starters, there
[00:06:46] is UFA President Alexander Chefferen, the boss the sports European governing
[00:06:49] body, who has been the most vocal against
[00:06:53] Infantino's plan. Remember, he convinced all 55 of his
[00:06:57] member states to say that they boycott FIFA, UEFA also
[00:07:01] sent a legal letter to the world football body, then we have Concercaff chief
[00:07:04] Victor Montaliani who didn't use the b word b for boycott, but
[00:07:08] was also against bringing outside money. AFC president,
[00:07:12] Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa, this man right here, the senior vice president the
[00:07:16] FIFA Council, could replace infantino as well, and then the
[00:07:19] most interesting name, if you ask me, is somewhat outsider in all
[00:07:23] this, Paris Saint-Germain boss Nasar Al Khaleifi, the Qatari
[00:07:27] executive reportedly gaining support to become a candidate at the next
[00:07:31] FIFA Congress in March, but whoever steps up next, according
[00:07:35] to former FIFA Vice President Jim Boyce, well it's it's going to be lot of tough
[00:07:38] work, there's ondably. lot of
[00:07:42] repair work to be done, I think the ordinary average football fan has
[00:07:46] just been seckened by what has happened here, they
[00:07:50] are waiting to see what repair work is going to be done, and
[00:07:54] as I say to you, the president of FIFA is
[00:07:58] very, very high ranking position, and now if he wants
[00:08:02] to retain his position, he's got to start the repair work that has been
[00:08:06] done by the damage to what I can only describe as ludicrous
[00:08:09] suggestion. All right, might be one of those dudes might. happy, but
[00:08:13] my next guest was very quick on the draw to say
[00:08:16] infantino must go when the news broke on FIFA's investment plans and
[00:08:20] that's political strategist ashish prashad ashish thank you so much for joining
[00:08:24] beyond the game once again now infantino leaving let ask you
[00:08:28] bluntly will it solve the ambitious uh
[00:08:31] ambitious nature of FIFA want wanting to make football bigger and better
[00:08:35] constantly? I mean infantino
[00:08:39] himself is just I think replicating the environment with live in today
[00:08:43] where I guess corruption's happening out in the open, he's tried to budy up to President Trump
[00:08:47] and he's probably seen you know how uh the white house has been used to make
[00:08:51] money a way that's never happened before and thought he would get his fingers in that pie,
[00:08:55] so maybe maybe getting rid
[00:08:59] a of him would make it happen at less of a public uh a public light, but honestly at this point I
[00:09:03] think we need to question the entire FIFA leadership, there's got to be questions asked about
[00:09:07] even people who've criticized him and and frankly didn't know about this plan like Kevin Le
[00:09:11] More who went out there and said, 'I didn't know about this, I wasn't told, and I we
[00:09:15] actually people believe that, because Infantino definitely did this by himself,
[00:09:18] with the cushioners, with Trump allies to try and sell
[00:09:22] off football, like you your introduction uh, so eloquently put,
[00:09:26] but what's really interesting to me with the recent accusations from
[00:09:30] people at Prince Ali, uh, the the brother to the king of
[00:09:34] Jordan, who basically said infantino has blackmailed him and won't give
[00:09:38] him his uh the money that was oh jordan and resolve any'.
[00:09:42] with the US, unless he voted for Infantino, the question you got to ask is
[00:09:46] how many other FAs have been in this situation who've also either
[00:09:50] folded or who haven't made that decision yet, been blackmailed by the president, and this
[00:09:54] isn't stuff that is selling off football, this is
[00:09:57] day-to-day fifa operations, so the question about why Kevin Le More
[00:10:01] would still stay there, why would the GC still stay there, why will the general,
[00:10:05] why will other leaders still stay there, well maybe they're all complicit in his other
[00:10:09] crimes at FIFA, and honestly this is... an opportunity for world
[00:10:13] football to possibly abolish FIFA as it exists today, like
[00:10:17] UEFA, I'll give you an example, UEFA haven't used their big tool
[00:10:20] yet, when Infantino was the president of UEFA,
[00:10:25] a plan for UEFA to exit FIFA and hold it for
[00:10:29] ransom, well guess what, he became the FIFA president, shelf that
[00:10:33] plan, and now Alexander Seffron is potentially going
[00:10:37] to use that against him, and in that plan there's a way to work with other
[00:10:40] confederations to design a world cup that does not involve the
[00:10:44] organization that is FIFA, and if he doesn't resign and if
[00:10:47] leadership doesn't take the appropriate steps to make permanent
[00:10:50] reforms, that plan should be used, we should abolish FIFA as it
[00:10:54] exists. today, that's that's very interesting, I don't how to unpack
[00:10:58] that, I mean, if
[00:10:59] we do abolish FIFA, then the the discussion of who comes
[00:11:03] next is immediately thrown off the door, and so the next question is,
[00:11:07] what, how does that transform football, what, what does football turn into? do you think
[00:11:10] the interest will decrease,
[00:11:13] perhaps? not at all, it's the global game.
[00:11:17] find it really, i think all of us, the
[00:11:20] fans, players, frankly, players, luis figo today wrote
[00:11:24] about, how disgusted he is withinfantino and frankly the
[00:11:27] leadership of FIFA for the actions and direction they're taking football, the
[00:11:31] game is not going to get less popular, this is body that benefits from
[00:11:35] the ultimate popularity the biggest global sport in the world right
[00:11:39] now, the game is evolved to get the game in front of everyone's eyeballs, it didn't need
[00:11:43] FIFA to do that, when Infantino said I made, I made you 15
[00:11:47] billion, what he forgets is the football has made you 15 billion for
[00:11:51] what they put on the field and the fans made you 15 billion for their commitment.
[00:11:55] a game that they love, that is part their identity and their life. there was
[00:11:59] shit arrogance in that statement that you made everyone
[00:12:02] 15 billion. um, it's easy, i believe,
[00:12:06] sticking 48 teams in a world cup, of course the numbers were going to be higher
[00:12:10] than the last world cup, of course, revenue is going to be higher
[00:12:14] than the last world cup, he just added more teams, but he didn't really make the
[00:12:18] money, the product on the field did that, you're going to still go to go, you're still going
[00:12:22] to watch football, i'm still going to watch football, i'm sure your viewers are still. engage in football,
[00:12:25] FIFA didn't exist, look, but we only have to get there first, if FIFA show
[00:12:29] significant reforms, I believe infantino, Kevin La Moore and
[00:12:32] all the current leadership should be leaving, and the leader could come
[00:12:36] in and interim to propose some significant reforms where they do not
[00:12:40] sell the soul of football off anymore, where they commit to
[00:12:44] actually giving fan ownership to decision making, where fans actually have a
[00:12:48] say, there's a board set up where the fans actually are involved in the process, even compare
[00:12:52] what we've seen recently with FIFA compared to UA. are
[00:12:56] coming up
[00:12:57] the next a euros year and a half, ticket prices are in the tens of
[00:13:00] pounds uh for the kids, it was
[00:13:03] $11,000 for the cheapest ticket for the final and that is for
[00:13:07] kids too, is this an entity, an organization that cares about the future
[00:13:11] the game and how we engage with it, or is it just taking advantage of everyone? and
[00:13:15] the question here is like UEFA, while not perfect, it's still committing to
[00:13:19] give you access to the game at the game
[00:13:22] itself, so it's possible to still grow the... make it affordable,
[00:13:26] make sure we can all enjoy it while actually, still making money,
[00:13:30] and you wait for showing a model there and other organizations are, it's just the fifa is trying to rake us all
[00:13:34] in. mean, when you look at, their track record is pretty positive
[00:13:38] too, considering how they dealt with the European super league thing from few years
[00:13:41] ago, so we had that list, we talked about chefering, we talked about
[00:13:45] montaliani, salman bin ibrahim al khalifa, chefering to
[00:13:49] one side, you said fifa should be reformed, the
[00:13:52] name to come out should be reform. name out of
[00:13:56] this crew, who is that one
[00:13:59] person? I don't think Alexander Sefron wants the
[00:14:03] job personally uh, I think he enjoys his
[00:14:06] kingdom, that is UEFA, I, I think he'll probably run for fourth
[00:14:10] term, as we speak, I the the, I think we need real fresh
[00:14:14] blood here, I also think it might be time for woman to be in charge of FIFA, right, we've
[00:14:18] talked to people set bladder himself, can't believe I'm going to put that name in my mouth,
[00:14:22] has already proposed someone like lease clavaness, um, there are others you know
[00:14:26] out there that could take this role um, i actually like the idea
[00:14:30] of NASA potentially being in there, the way he the direction he's taking club football in
[00:14:34] Europe, he could potentially be a big reformer of it, also still made PSG
[00:14:37] accessible to real fans, you know their ultras don't complain about ticket
[00:14:41] prices like the Premier League fans do, so there are opportunities
[00:14:45] here for a leader with vision potentially to step in,
[00:14:48] and I believe it's also matter of time at this point, I don't
[00:14:52] believe Jeanny and Fentino can hold on, whether they can perge the
[00:14:56] rest the leadership with him, which I actually think is required at this
[00:14:59] point, but I the other thing is he's not been getting
[00:15:03] support from his best friend Donald Trump, yeah, and I'll tell you why that's really
[00:15:07] important for your viewers, because you know,
[00:15:11] he would use that public support to quiet down
[00:15:15] the conversation of he should go, there are a lot of nations who don't want
[00:15:18] trouble with the state department, who don't want trouble with the president the united states, who
[00:15:22] would say to their FA, look, this is only football. Okay, can you just back
[00:15:26] this guy and move on? I, I believe the biggest thing happening today
[00:15:30] is all the footballers. Figo is, you know, a legend the
[00:15:33] game. I believe more and more legends will start to come out and allow...
[00:15:37] the current proper players to speak out about this, and if he still
[00:15:41] stubbornly wants to stay there, then that only leaves the path of
[00:15:45] ab abolishing FIFA, because he's saying he doesn't recognize the talent, he doesn't
[00:15:49] recognize the fans and he doesn't recognize the FAs that want him gone. frankly,
[00:15:52] his only public backer in the United States right now is one man called
[00:15:56] Paula Zampoli who's in the Trump administration. this man is the New York
[00:16:00] Times reported, has abused his position in the white house to deport
[00:16:04] women to other countries. that's not someone our... president of
[00:16:08] football should be associated with, that shouldn't be the future of football,
[00:16:12] the future of football should be for the kids, for us,
[00:16:16] it's to be accessible, it needs leaders like Figo,
[00:16:20] like uh, Sephrin, like NASA, all people who want us to actually
[00:16:23] enjoy the game and not, not be, the game not to be abused and
[00:16:27] stripped from us and sold off. Yeah, ashish, let ask you about
[00:16:31] that, um, you talked about figo, uh, Luis Figo,
[00:16:35] now, our football executives, I look, I... looked at the past FIFA
[00:16:39] presidents, you can rarely find someone who is actually in
[00:16:43] football itself as either as referee or a player.
[00:16:46] now our football executives too far removed from the game,
[00:16:48] you know, that that making big decisions like this will ultimately feel disconnected
[00:16:52] from what the beautiful game is actually about. do think it's
[00:16:56] time for footballer to be in charge of this. no, not all footballers are good
[00:17:00] politicians or or um presidents of clubs
[00:17:04] or anything else, but there are that there are some that can do that. 'I do
[00:17:08] believe the game also has enough, it's about also the people you put around you, the
[00:17:11] game needs a footballer I believe right now also to be a senior
[00:17:15] role, maybe even not president,
[00:17:17] but up there as an ambassador role to really put the game front
[00:17:21] and center in front of all of us again that what it's all about right, we have too
[00:17:25] many technocrats there who don't like you said never kick the ball, I think
[00:17:28] even in Vantino there's means of him trying to kick ball all over the
[00:17:32] internet right now by actually people in the game in reporters who
[00:17:36] go, well how's this guy run football when you think about it, look, there are people who've done
[00:17:40] a good job, we've already mentioned Sefferen and how he is centered
[00:17:44] fans and actually kept ticket prices down and made that a priority, he's
[00:17:48] also made women's football in Europe a big deal for the first time, obviously it was
[00:17:52] huge in the US, but he's made it a big deal and invested heavily in it, so that's
[00:17:55] definitely good footballing decisions, but it would be nice if we are going to have another
[00:17:59] person in there, at least Cavine has played football, also what we've not
[00:18:03] talked about here is the players, there's already been discontent.
[00:18:07] about the amount of games they're playing, everyone says, oh they earn so much, they
[00:18:11] should play, but if you want people not to play because they're injured all the time, because there
[00:18:15] are too many games, you're not getting the product that you want also, some people complain about
[00:18:19] that, what they do, they're not getting the best these players because they're getting hurt
[00:18:23] playing hundred and plus games a year, you know, i think from
[00:18:27] my perspective, they need to be at the center of this also, because they know need to know what how they
[00:18:31] can be their best selves on the field for us to be
[00:18:34] entertained, this president not only is like to sell off the
[00:18:38] game, there's been a lot of controversy about his behavior at the last world
[00:18:41] cup, not caring about visas for people from the global south, from
[00:18:45] countries that are on let's say the not on the US's friendly side,
[00:18:49] the treatment of football team in Iran, football team, whatever your politics are, it's
[00:18:53] a football team, to the point where right-wing media in Europe were up in arms about
[00:18:57] the treatment of Iran and its players, right, this guy could have done
[00:19:01] something about it, this guy also bet the rules, broke the rules by
[00:19:05] allowing a US red card to be... overall
[00:19:08] you know, and I would say, lot of people out there, if this man is finally red
[00:19:12] carded, will not miss him and will be saying overt that mate. Ashish,
[00:19:16] always love your analysis, that was political strategist ashish prashar, thank you
[00:19:19] for coming on beyond the game. uh, all right, not to play devil's advocate,
[00:19:23] but infantino's desire to build football help to grow it to
[00:19:27] bigger and better things, isn't anything new, and if we take a look at his previous
[00:19:31] big changes, they they've kind of succeeded, yeah, it's kind of forgotten that
[00:19:35] football has changed lot under infantino the... subs thing, the most
[00:19:38] recent time wasting protocols and of course the introduction of
[00:19:42] a hydration break slash commercial break, like it or hate it, video
[00:19:46] assistant referee happened under the swiss executive as did the
[00:19:49] semi-automated offside technology, and not to bury the lead, but
[00:19:53] infantino saw over the expansion of competitions right, like the most recent men's world
[00:19:57] cup, the club world cup becoming a 32 team affair, and
[00:20:01] he made the women's world cup go from 24 sides to 32 as
[00:20:04] well, they've all been successful so far. and uh get
[00:20:08] this, the trend of making competitions bigger and better might continue for the 100th
[00:20:12] anniversary the men's world cup cuz back a March 2025
[00:20:16] FIFA Council meeting com the ball, the confederation in South America
[00:20:20] proposed a 64 team addition for the 2030
[00:20:23] tournament, since then traction has been gaining for that to be the case.
[00:20:27] Look at this announcement from common ball president Alejandro Dominguez on
[00:20:31] July 20th, which hasn't been confirmed by FIFA
[00:20:35] by the way, cuz they've been... busy with other
[00:20:39] stuff. now i'm going to feel like a judge right now cuz let's call an
[00:20:42] eyewitness, someone who saw Infantino's most latest product, the
[00:20:46] 2026 world cup of close and personal two world sports cars.
[00:20:50] respond
[00:20:50] to lance santos, lance fancy seeing you there man, nice suit. um,
[00:20:54] let
[00:20:55] ask you this, we spent a bunch of money trying to go from one location to another
[00:20:59] revenue for 2026 tournament, i think we had lot of effect in that
[00:21:03] 15 billion mark, the record 15 billion mark,
[00:21:06] but my question is, how much did it feel like it came from
[00:21:10] actual fans, actual interest rather than from the outside, from like
[00:21:14] sponsorships and stuff, well to make no mistake about it, before
[00:21:18] a ball was even kicked at this full football World Cup
[00:21:21] FIFA
[00:21:22] led by Gianny Infantino made it abundantly clear to
[00:21:26] anyone wanting to go to this world cup that the fans interests were
[00:21:29] not at heart. Now when I say this I'm talking immediately about
[00:21:33] the scourge and ticket prices. Yes Infantino made his
[00:21:37] millions perhaps billions uh
[00:21:40] but fans were pushed to new level and this was a game for
[00:21:43] this the was rich a really competition because
[00:21:44] that it was was just record
[00:21:47] breaking uh revenues. that would have transpired into
[00:21:51] costing the fans, the fans were simply seen as a cash count, i make no
[00:21:55] mistake about it teller uh, FIFA sold football soul
[00:21:59] long ago, but this American World Cup was not
[00:22:03] just about making money, it was about with Jani and Fantino and FIFA
[00:22:07] swimming in dollar bills, the greed reached
[00:22:10] new heights, now when you look at what happened to the fans of course they
[00:22:14] were charged extortionate amounts of money to attend games,
[00:22:18] those fans that were given visas, I remember it was very
[00:22:22] difficult from fans from certain countries and certain locations to
[00:22:26] get visas if at all, referees were sent
[00:22:30] home because Donald Trump didn't like them, Janny and Fantino didn't do
[00:22:33] anything about that, and when you look at the cost
[00:22:37] around going to this World Cup, you asked me were the fans interest
[00:22:41] in at heart, absolutely not, with the tickets as well, FIFA
[00:22:45] decided that they would become a black market, FIFA became the middleman, so
[00:22:49] if I bought a... it for $,
[00:22:51] and decided that I didn't
[00:22:52] want it anymore, and then I went and sold it for $10,00.
[00:22:56] FIFA took a cut from me and if I sold it to you, FIFA took a cut from that
[00:23:00] too, they were the black market, it didn't end there, of
[00:23:03] course, all sorts of transportation issues were hiked
[00:23:06] up 10 times, uh, trains to the New York stadium were over
[00:23:10] $100, they're usually $10, and never mind the prices at
[00:23:14] the stadium, so of course the fans interests weren't at heart here and for
[00:23:18] lot the atmospheres as well, you had a... atmosphere outside, let me give
[00:23:21] you an example uh, when Argentina played, they have thousands and thousands of loyal
[00:23:25] fans from uh from from back home coming out to watch them,
[00:23:29] I would say that on the game, the night before their game, they gathered a
[00:23:33] park, they had an assado, a barbecue and they sang all night, of
[00:23:37] those fans around 60% them didn't have tickets, they couldn't afford
[00:23:41] it, they they made their way to the US and they were just
[00:23:45] there to be part the experience, they could not afford the thousands
[00:23:49] of dollars - that it takes to attend the game, so
[00:23:52] those are the fans we're talking about, those are the real fans, you football
[00:23:56] stadiums used to be in so often in leagues around the world from Germany to
[00:24:00] the Premier League all across europe in South America, that's the
[00:24:04] mecca, that's where you find the real fans and that atmosphere was a bit
[00:24:08] more linked in uh than it was uh one of those
[00:24:11] incredible European or South American or Turkish football
[00:24:15] stadiums, the fans interests weren't at heart, no a similar vein, I mean I
[00:24:19] went to few games,
[00:24:20] you know, a France game, a uh, what was it, a Germany game,
[00:24:24] and we were trying to get Voxpops from these fans wearing the Jersies of those
[00:24:28] countries, and most them, 95% them were like Americans, just
[00:24:32] interested, had the money, went to the games, but but you know,
[00:24:36] speaking the games, despite all that big money-making
[00:24:40] schemes, do you think the football
[00:24:43] actually, you know, did did it deliver cuz when we think about the
[00:24:46] 2022 Qatar World Cup, what we remember is that final 3-3 between France
[00:24:50] and Argentina, with this one, you know, four years later, will we remember all
[00:24:54] this extra finances involved? well, it's funny, you
[00:24:58] mentioned the Qatar World Cup, because we were talking about strictly football, the football was
[00:25:01] definitely better at the Qatar World Cup, and that's simply because there was more
[00:25:05] jeopady, there was more jeopady on the line, there were less teams involved, so you had
[00:25:09] bigger matchups early on, you had bigger teams going out,
[00:25:13] but you look at this American World Cup, and while I can't sit here and I
[00:25:17] can't sit here and say, oh, well, FIFA gauge... prices, people
[00:25:21] paid them, you look at the stadiums, Vancouver, Mexico, from Canada,
[00:25:24] Mexico to the US, the majority the stadiums were near
[00:25:28] enough at capacity uh
[00:25:31] on those days,
[00:25:31] so there was a demand there, but I think this demand uh
[00:25:35] was because it was in America, it was because we had three host
[00:25:39] nations in there, let's say you put the same world cup in
[00:25:42] Morocco, are you going to get a full house for
[00:25:46] knockout game between Canada and South Africa? I really don't.
[00:25:50] think you would, and and I think the expansion these world cups, if
[00:25:54] you're taking it outside the US, where it's a very capitalist market, where people
[00:25:57] are happy to pay thousands to be part the game day experience as you
[00:26:01] previously mind. there then yes, and I think FIFA
[00:26:05] saw this American World Cup as something uh where they could make
[00:26:09] record amounts of money. I don't think you'll be able to do the same with the
[00:26:13] same amount of prices if you go to Africa, if you go to South America,
[00:26:17] if you go to Australia or if you go to uh parts of Europe, it just won't
[00:26:21] fly. I'm I'm not sure why these football executives are always wanting to
[00:26:25] make things bigger and better. We we mentioned that 64 team
[00:26:28] option for the next world cup, it just feels too. much, but
[00:26:32] is that the only way that these executives can keep up with all
[00:26:36] the you know request to make more money, you
[00:26:40] know,
[00:26:41] in in the 48 world cup, i feel like the evolution of football kind of helped as well, you
[00:26:45] had lower sides still be able to produce good football, are we
[00:26:49] there in terms the 64 world cup? i
[00:26:53] think we're at our limit, tell when you when you look at this world cup, i mean of
[00:26:56] course there were the success stories Cape Verde going through, i
[00:27:00] think expanding more team. would simply dilute the
[00:27:04] competition and so quickly as well, to do it at the next
[00:27:07] world cup, I'll get it, it's for revenue, but we keep saying about
[00:27:11] revenue about how can FIFA make more money, the question is why does FIFA need
[00:27:15] to make more money, they're openly boasting about having billions
[00:27:19] in the bank, the they're not in debt, this is supposed
[00:27:23] to be not for profit organization, gianny infantino's
[00:27:26] rain is potentially about to come crashing down, only
[00:27:30] moments ago he was looking for. report from legends the
[00:27:34] game and it turned out he's got lugo
[00:27:36] uh on x demanding his resignation saying it's too late for
[00:27:40] Gianni to save his dignity but maybe he can save football uh by
[00:27:44] stepping down so look at this kind of attitude
[00:27:48] and the way we've seen the 55 UEFA nations
[00:27:51] abandoning uh Gianni Infantino shows you that
[00:27:55] perhaps this expansion this need and this
[00:27:58] obsession with how to make more money instead of how...
[00:28:02] to just enjoy the World Cup as
[00:28:04] it is, it's a beautiful game, it's hard to qualify, it's hard to win a
[00:28:08] World Cup, and this should be about the fans. Take a leaf out the
[00:28:12] Bundesliga's book when you look at the ticket prices, if the
[00:28:16] ticket prices for away Champions League games for Bayern Munich for
[00:28:19] example, on more than what the Germans would pay, the club subsidizes
[00:28:23] that, that is real football, that is what it's all
[00:28:26] about, and I don't think we can constantly sit here and say, how can
[00:28:30] FIFA make more money, and this expectation us, the consumer,
[00:28:33] us, the fans to constantly say, okay, well it's okay if FIFA
[00:28:37] expand, they need to make more money, they don't need to make more money, they've got more
[00:28:41] than enough money, janni infantino should have been happy with this $6 million a
[00:28:45] year salary, but he wasn't, and look where he is now, yeah, exactly,
[00:28:49] lance, always love talking to you, man, uh, we could do it all day long, they're saying we don't have all day
[00:28:52] long, lan Santos in London, my colleague, thank you so much for joining be on the game
[00:28:56] man, all right, what a developing story this
[00:29:00] whole FIFA investment plan, saga has been, i'm sure by the next time
[00:29:04] we talk about it, things will have changed so so much, maybe with different
[00:29:08] president, you don't know, i don't want to jinx it, but uh, that's it for this edition
[00:29:11] of beyond the game, thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time, bye
[00:29:15] bye,
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