Andy’s Sting in the Tale (07/08/26) "Never Fear, the Sun Will Still Rise"

An optimistic prediction but for now, how on earth did we get to where we find ourselves?

After what the Fifa beancounters and PR people are still trumpeting as their most financially successful World Cup ever we all viewed our dominant, omnipresent, media-savvy Fifa President relishing the quite amazing soapbox he has created for himself.

In his world football is riding high and he, alone, is the main reason why.

Sadly in reality football is at a crucial crossroads and what happens in the next few rolls of the Fifa ‘always-loaded’ dice will determine alternative, but always parallel futures for all of us.

Infantino the household name and face, is undoubtedly a man who sees himself more and more as a heavyweight and ‘benign’ world politician rather than a sport administrator, a simple man who has now somehow gone from self-made hero to an endangered rabbit in what he sees as a nasty and unfair series of spotlights.

And it has all seemed to come ‘out of nowhere’.

Except it didn’t.

And now after a meeting of his team in Infantino-friendly Morocco all the fuss in his eyes seems to be receding and slowing down.

Except it isn’t.

As an aside, I first became aware of life’s age old ‘slow/till it’s/fast’ truism/realities in Ernest Hemingway’s book, ‘The Sun Also Rises’.

It’s after one character Bill asked his pal Mike, How did you go bankrupt?

The answer “Gradually then suddenly” made such sense then and now.

And metaphorically Hemingway’s insight sums up how most radical change metamorphoses and is bang-on in football.

Small, often unnoticed changes build up over a long period of time until a tipping point arrives and we see change, or failure or both but the world is never the same place afterwards.

Of course we all know the sun will rise on football again.

Club football will break out, kids will still play and become heroes in their heads, but in a distant galaxy, right now there is a fight for the soul of our game.

It’s mostly playing out in full view but seems above the heads of our very own media’s predilection for gossip rather than insight. This is all mostly rear-view stuff for now.

The very real fact that our game has a love/hate relationship with power and money makes it all messier and more complex.

But don’t worry, I’m not going to try to simplify something that is not simple, although it really is very simple.

So here are some observations from the last week or so and a wee insight from today’s update too.

If You’ve Been on the Moon

Never forget all Fifa members have one equal vote, and yes we know, some are easy bought but the real commercial power in football lies in the hands of the big countries because of the audiences and sponsors they deliver. If they work together, that is.

Flexing muscles and all that.

After many years of us being the recipients of acceleratingly ‘King-like’ proclamations from the man, Uefa finally said ‘enough already’ and last week voted unanimously for and threatened a boycott of Fifa competitions. If you like, as a blunt means of unifying and saying ‘GTF’ to Infantino and a warning to his/our sponsors.

Interestingly Uefa were led in this move by 2 female leads: Lise Klaveness and Laura McAllister who both sit on Fifa’s executive committee. Not as high as the very exclusive and secretive internal 5 man ‘Bureau of Management Board’, but powerful enough.

Both were also said to be especially championing the moral issues that Fifa’s commercial engine runs roughshod over and the fans.

England and Wales FA’s came out specifically against the President. Scotland’s FA has chosen in a qualified support statement to say they voted and sided with Uefa because of the processes but have not voiced any criticism of Infantino or his moral agenda.( I personally think we’re too close to the man).

JP Morgan, serious bankers that they are, were the supporter/underwriter of the new short-lived plan to monetise the World Cup along with Trump’s sone in law’s brother also a key player through his ‘Thrive Eternal Fund’.

It’s worth remembering JP Morgan were also the backers of the short lived ‘European Soccer League’, crushed by fans and Uefa 5 or so years ago. Infantino is reported to have had a slice of that action at the time too.

Infantino was said to be shocked by the Uefa -led fightback, reeled, even tried to Involve a dis-interested self-distancing bestie ‘Trump’, and then retreated to Rabat Morocco where he called his invited pro-team to a meeting.

He has since come out fighting with a statement that says he has full support of “Fifa’.

(A qualified attack as defence on behalf of his pals who also happen to be the beneficiaries of his support).

“Fifa will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect its name and reputation.

There never was and still is no record of who from Fifa’s executive committee was there, who was missing and why, and indeed who should have been but was not invited to his planned rally.

Uefa then reacted and have doubled down saying the threat of a boycott was not a hollow threat but a strategy and while England fans now know clearly how their FA still stands there has been radio silence North of the Wall.

(Will it affect the upcoming Women’s World Cup fixtures?

Don’t know but will be messy till it’s clear.)

Fifpro have also come out and said they want Infantino to go and the man has tried but no ex-players have come out in his support.

One giant, Louis Figo said,

“He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve. It is too late to save his dignity but not too late to save football. He should go.”

To support his backers, Jahnnie is said to have offered the same World Cup Final he had already promised to Spain, instead to Morocco and monies are said to be flowing to small countries to remind them of the reliance they have on Mr I.

Today I heard a bit more that throws some more light on to the trail.

Waldorf Wanglings and Wranglings

The day before the showcase final in New York Jahnnie, for his own reasons, wanted/needed to go public and fast so first invited his elite, 5 top paid employees, the Fifa ‘Bureau of Management Board to a ‘Confidential Meeting’ with no pre- agenda at the famous Waldorf.

All talks were private and signed anonymity was demanded and given.

The 5 all knew Infantino effectively controlled their careers so were wary and fearful to begin with.

And importantly all had/have vested interests in going with the flow, as per always with the man.

After the announcement and some discussions, 3 of the 5 said they would vote in favour, Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom, Legal Head Emilio Garcia, and Chief of Staff Dan O’Toole who is said to have had an active pre and post role in the plan so already knew.

(Yet, Somehow, later reflecting on the same sequence, Grafstrom said it was ‘a sad and reproachable series of events)

Back in the Waldorf Fifa’s COO Kevin Lamour and finance head Thomas Peyer said they were not in favour and said as much as politely as they could.

Infantino later saw this 3-2 as a majority vote and went public to the Fifa Council who are representatives of member nations and paid, non-employees.

Andy Talking Again

Like his orange pal, you have to understand everything Infantino does is transactional.

‘You do this for me and I’ll deliver that for you’.

Self interest is always part of all of his planning and deal making

So, like I’ve said for weeks the man will fight like a scabby pit bull when threatened but is for hanging on till he can no longer hang on.

And our collective and partial view through the rear window may be entertaining in a dark way yes, but it’s also depressing and with a long way to go.

For now, here are two things I’d like our media to dig deeper on.

1 Who was on his internal Fifa top team coming up with and fleshing out the World Cup Sale idea?

2 Who was present representing Fifa in Rabat earlier this week and equally importantly who wasn’t and why?

I know from press reports that Arsene declined the invitation and that Lise and Laura were not even invited.

But also in the meantime, huge thanks to Martin Ziegler of Murdoch’s Times for his digging.

Apologies.

This Week’s Sting should be about things like how badly our clubs are doing in the preliminary, of the preliminary rounds of Europe or how few Scots are in our starting 11s and I’ll come back to these in the weeks to come.

Real issues.

Our game is obviously recruiting sub optimal players when we used to grow our own.

Collectively embarrassing.

Andy’s Album of the Week

BBC Prog Rock at the Proms

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002zbkf/bbc-proms-2026-prog-rock-at-the-proms

I never actually knew what Prog Rock was/is so was intrigued at this concept.

I won’t debate the choice of songs or styles but there is stuff like Camel that should be there and way too much ELP.

Anyway

After so many of you wrote to complain that last week had no background soundtrack/ sounds this will more than do.

A sampler but, and there is a but

Great background music if you’re doing something like I have been, but for me the very soul has left some of the various bodies of work.

Some listen fine but some are on the point of being lift-muzak.

But.

1.hour 32 into the mostly OK show I suddenly stopped thinking about anything except the music.

It was Pink Floyd’s ‘Great Gig in the Sky’.

I heard the intro and then a voice I don’t know much about vocalising Clare Torry’s original input.

Vanessa Haynes the voice is nothing short of mesmerising, soulful, powerful and moving.

Wow.

Next week I’ll maybe dig into what Prog Rock meant to younger Andy.