October 19: Following last week’s heated FIFA Council meeting, Gianni Infantino is back on the campaign trail with stops in both Africa and Asia.
On Saturday, Infantino attended the opening day of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in Rabat, Morocco. In the curtain raiser, the hosts defeated New Zealand 4-0.
The FIFA chief then traveled to Bangladesh where he met Tabith Awal, the president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and senior members of the federation’s executive committee. He praised Bangladesh as a “football-loving nation” and talked about development plans.
The BFF has received $14.9 million in development money since 2016, according to the FIFA Forward Impact map. Last week, at the first FIFA Council meeting since the 2026 World Cup and Infantino’s disastrous World Cup privatization plans, a proposal was voted to distribute an additional $15 million in development money (on top of the $10 million FIFA Forward 4.0 grant) to each member association for the 2027-2030 cycle.
Infantino turned to Bhutan, one of the Asian football associations to back him after the abandoned FIFA Forward Entreprise plans.
In September, Infantino met with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The FIFA chief framed the visit as an opportunity to address the development. The local federation has benefited from $18.9 million in development money, according to the FIFA Forward Impact map.
The Bhutan Football Federation earlier released a letter extending its “sincere thanks” to Infantino for scrapping his plans to sell off the World Cup, praising his “true leadership”. “We stand with Fifa and President Infantino in their ongoing efforts to serve the global football community,” wrote federation president Dasho Ugen Tsechup.
Infantino has stepped up his campaign after UEFA, Concacaf and AFC condemned his privatization plans. UEFA has repeatedly claimed that the FIFA boss has crossed a red line.
The FIFA boss has visited the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Far East, the Gulf and Africa in recent weeks to drum up support for his re-election. He did so in a private jet provided by Qatar. FIFA has never clarified the expenses linked to the jet.
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