Fifa’s new broom Gianni Infantino exhibiting signs of limited shelf life | Marina Hyde

Fifa president has already wrecked his flagship event and with the World Cup taking place on Friday has only one of 20 local sponsors in place and has yet to agree terms for the TV rights with Russian broadcasters

Good news and bad news once more for Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, who refuses to abandon his delusions of adequacy. The good news is Gianni has pre-announced there will be no racist incidents at the Russia World Cup next summer. “This is a very high priority,” he explained, “and we will make sure no incidents will happen.”

The bad news is there may be no local sponsors at the Russia World Cup next summer. I say “no local sponsors” – in fact, there is currently just one of a possible 20 places in Fifa’s regional sponsorship tier taken up, with that spot filled 16 months ago by Russia’s Alfa Bank. Since then, nothing.

Related: Fifa’s World Cup debacle isn’t just about money – there’s horror and death too | Barney Ronay

Our new broom has now been sweeping rather wanly in various categories of shit storm for more than 18 months

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