IT’S ONLY GREENBACKS THAT COUNT FOR INFANTINO... NOT GOING GREEN

AS THIS football season enters its final stretch, there are some intriguing issues in the lower leagues and in non-league.

None will get as much coverage as the Premier League title race, but if you follow a club that is never likely to get anywhere near that sort of level, you would be quite entitled to think yourself lucky.

There is some compelling football played by the truly elite, but there are times when the commercialisation of the sport becomes utterly dispiriting.

One such time occurred last week when Gianni Infantino (right) was trumpeting a new FIFA sponsorship deal with a Saudi Arabian fuel company that, last year, made a profit in excess of $160billion. Two things. Firstly, when football should be doing its bit for the campaign for a greener, more climatefriendly globe, the world governing body is signing up the most powerful fossil fuel company on the planet.

Secondly, FIFA appears to be happy to simply sell the sport to the Saudis, regardless of the myriad concerns about that state’s human rights records.

It has been a long time since Infantino laughed off those concerns and the die is now cast. Saudi Arabia, the sole contender to stage the 2034 men’s World Cup, is becoming the most influential country in the corridors of international footballing power.

Aramco will now be one of the principal sponsors of the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s World Cup, which is, of course, an irony in itself.

And it will, no doubt, have a presence at the new Club World Cup in 2025 – a 32-team affair to be played over a month in the United States.

As the UEFA Champions League expands next season, the obligations on the top players – driven by the pursuit of the commercial dollar – will become even more ridiculous.

Infantino was clearly delighted to firm up the Aramco deal, saying: “This partnership will assist FIFA to successfully deliver its flagship tournaments over the next four years.”

A couple of years ago, Infantino launched a ‘Green Card for the Planet’ campaign to highlight awareness of environmental issues. Now, he is trumpeting a partnership with a company that most experts deem to be the world’s biggest corporate emitter of greenhouse gases.

But the money will roll in and Infantino can keep the FIFA nations sweet by promising to redistribute the wealth.

Not quite all of it will go to those 211 national associations, though… there are people at FIFA to be paid, don’t forget.

Infantino’s base salary for 2023 rose by 33 percent, contributing to a total pay package of £3.74million. Nice work if you can get it. And if it means putting an intolerable workload on the talent, cosying up to oil-rich states and turning a blind eye to human rights worries, then so be it.

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Most experts deem oil firm Aramco to be the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases