FIFA's Infantino Accused of Hiding a $1.76 Million Secret Salary

A Second Paycheck Hidden in Plain Sight

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been accused of breaching the body's transparency rules after allegedly receiving an undisclosed £1.3 million payment in addition to his publicly declared salary. US Internal Revenue Service filings reportedly show that FWC2026 US Inc, a subsidiary involved in organising the 2026 World Cup, paid the FIFA president $1.76 million in 2024. That money, quietly logged in an American tax document, never showed up where it was supposed to — in FIFA's own annual report.

The payment appears to have been omitted from FIFA's annual report for that year, despite the organisation's statutes requiring the president's compensation to be made public. Infantino was officially reported to have earned 4.27 million Swiss francs, approximately £3.88 million, in 2024. The additional payment would significantly increase his declared earnings for the year. In other words, the man who runs world football was allegedly pulling in two separate incomes — one visible, one not.

A Rule Written Specifically for This Moment

FIFA's own rulebook contains a line written for exactly one person. Article 43, paragraph 13 says the individual compensation of the FIFA president shall be made public. That rule exists precisely because FIFA spent years trying to rebuild trust after the corruption scandals that consumed the organization over a decade ago. Hiding a salary from a World Cup subsidiary cuts directly against that promise.

The money came from FWC2026 US Inc, the US entity FIFA set up to run the 2026 World Cup. It was recorded in a tax return filed with the US Internal Revenue Service, with $626,229 of the total booked as "other reportable compensation" on top of base pay and bonus. The disclosure came not through FIFA's own transparency mechanisms, but through a routine government filing — which raises its own uncomfortable questions about what else may not have been voluntarily disclosed.

Critics Demand Accountability

Miguel Maduro, the former chairman of the FIFA governance committee, told The Times that not making Infantino's additional salary public could be a violation of the world federation's rules, explaining that it "is a clear contravention of the rules if he is paid other amounts by companies related to FIFA and it is not made public." The FIFA statutes impose an obligation of full transparency. It is not appropriate for the FIFA compensation sub-committee to authorize other forms of remuneration.

According to The Times, Infantino has been receiving millions in undisclosed payments, which he reportedly used to fund a luxury lifestyle in Miami. A source familiar with the accounts also claimed Infantino received similar sums, or potentially more, in 2025 and 2026. FIFA, for its part, has not denied the payments outright. The governing body defended the compensation arrangements, insisting that its compensation sub-committee determines the president's salary and contractual benefits, and added that it reported payments relating to pension contributions, social charges and other employment benefits to US authorities.

The Worst Possible Timing

The latest revelations will increase the pressure on Infantino, who remains embattled after he abandoned his plans to sell off a stake in the World Cup to private equity. This week, Infantino will face the FIFA Council for the first time since the World Cup. The Telegraph reported that the upcoming Zurich meeting "will nevertheless allow for scrutiny of all the major controversies that have engulfed Infantino over the last year or so after submission from its 37 council members."

The discovery will be no help for Infantino when trying to win back the support of some federations, with UEFA leading calls for a new president to be named. For an organization that has spent years insisting it has cleaned up its act since the Blatter era, the emergence of a hidden seven-figure payment routed through a World Cup subsidiary is exactly the kind of story that makes those assurances ring hollow. Whether this ends as a footnote or a turning point depends entirely on what FIFA's Council — and its members — choose to do next.