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FIFA chief Gianni Infantino hires British marketing king Martin Sorrell for survival campaign, ‘raiding’ org’s coffers: sources

Дата публикации: 25-09-2026 20:48:09

Embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino has tapped British marketing guru Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital machine to salvage his grip on global soccer -- and he is footing the bill with the governing body’s own money, three sources familiar with the matter told The Post.

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Embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino has tapped British marketing guru Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital machine to salvage his grip on global soccer — and he is footing the bill with the governing body’s own money, three sources familiar with the matter told The Post.

The previously undisclosed contract with Monks, a programmatic advertising agency owned by Sorrell’s London-listed S4 Capital, comes as Infantino is fighting for his career. The deal with Sorrell’s firm falls under an engagement authorized through FIFA accounts, according to the three insiders.

Infantino has been on the defensive since the disastrous collapse of a $20 billion plan to sell the global soccer giant’s commercial rights to Wall Street investors led by Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital, as first reported by The Post.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino holding an official ball of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Infantino has been flying in a Qatari-registered private jet that critics see as a bid to shore up his presidential candidacy. AFP via Getty Images

Infantino quietly hired Sorrell’s agency earlier this month for a targeted digital media campaign ahead of FIFA’s presidential election next March, sources familiar with the arrangement told The Post.

Critics inside the organization’s Swiss headquarters allege that deploying the non-profit’s treasury for what amounts to a personal survival campaign would constitute gross financial misconduct.

“If this happened in the NFL or NBA, the commissioner would be fired by lunch,” one senior soccer insider told The Post. “You cannot raid the league treasury to protect your own throne.”

Another source fumed: “This is exactly why governance has to radically improve at FIFA. This is a clear abuse of office – how does this relate to him carrying out his job as president?”

Under Article 25 of FIFA’s ethics code, officials are strictly barred from deploying organization funds for electioneering.

The strategy could invite legal exposure under Swiss law. Europe’s governing soccer body UEFA is assessing potential claims under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, according to a US legal filing lodged last month.

Martin Sorrell speaking onstage during Cannes Lions 2026.

Sir Martin Sorrell, who quit as CEO of WPP in 2018, now runs London-based firm Monks. Getty Images for Cannes Lions

Those charges carry a prison sentence of up to five years for “criminal mismanagement” if association bosses divert corporate assets for unauthorized personal benefit.

The retention of an elite international marketing machine reflects the mounting pressure inside FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.

With European soccer leaders actively vetting challengers for the March ballot, Infantino is calling on Sorrell’s digital operation to bypass traditional media channels.

Joshua Kushner speaking on a phone at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference.

Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, has sought to snap up a stake in FIFA’s commercial assets for just over $4 billion. Bloomberg via Getty Images

While Sorrell famously declared earlier this year that traditional “PR is dead,” his agency Monks specializes in exactly what Infantino may need to survive.

The company’s expertise focuses on data-driven algorithmic targeting, behavioral tracking, and digital voter mobilization designed to rally support online — which could potentially influence member associations across Africa, Asia and the Americas

Reached by The Post on Friday, a Monks spokesperson said: “We don’t respond to questions on clients. Any enquiries should be directed to FIFA.”

An illustration shows a lone man sitting in a stadium of empty blue seats, with the text "YOU'VE GOT NO FANS" superimposed over the image.

A copy of the billboard, set to go live this weekend and obtained exclusively by The Post, calls on the Swiss-Italian sports suit to resign.

The global soccer boss was in New York City over the past two days for meetings at the UN General Assembly, shacking up at the swanky Midtown hotel The St. Regis, two people familiar with his travel schedule said.

He was set to visit the British Virgin Islands and Jamaica on Friday, before jetting to St Kitts and Antigua on Saturday, the people said.

Soccer fans are launching a new attack ad on the top soccer chief this weekend with a billboard in Times Square, just weeks after a public missive calling for him to resign, two sources familiar with the plans told The Post.

Infantino has been scrambling to keep his presidency intact.

U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino are seen during the trophy presentation after the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match.

The relationship between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino has come under scrutiny since the soccer body awarded the commander-in-chief its first-ever ‘Peace Prize’. REUTERS

The Post reported last month that he traveled on a private Gulfstream jet provided by Qatar in what critics characterized as an early bid to shore up support for his candidacy.

That came just weeks after Infantino sparked a global furor by unilaterally overturning a World Cup red card for US striker Folarin Balogun following a phone call from President Trump.

The unprecedented move ahead of a knockout match against Belgium prompted UEFA to publicly accuse FIFA of crossing a “red line,” and the Belgian soccer federation is demanding answers at a crisis FIFA summit next month.

Meanwhile, UEFA has launched a US court battle through a legal discovery application to compel the disclosure of internal documents linked to the botched Kushner buyout blueprint.

A black Cadillac SUV with a FIFA 26 license plate leads a motorcade on a city street.

A Post reporter spotted an official FIFA vehicle outside the swanky five-star hotel in midtown Manhattan. James Franey

Following that legal filing, Infantino skipped a scheduled appearance at a Hamptons gathering organized for New York financial executives.

Infantino’s privatization scheme — anchored by a $4.2 billion buyout led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital and advised by JPMorgan — collapsed after European governing body UEFA threatened an outright World Cup boycott. Kushner is the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner.

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In an explosive letter exclusively obtained by The Post last week, European and North American soccer chiefs demanded Infantino immediately open FIFA’s staggering $6 billion cash reserves to compensate member associations for the promised windfalls that vanished when the privatization plan died.

The humiliating collapse of the deal triggered an open revolt inside Zurich. Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner and key adviser to the top technocrat, abruptly resigned in protest.

Days later, FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour publicly accused Infantino of a months-long “lie by omission” that kept staff, confederations, and clubs uninformed. He was sacked Aug. 17.

FIFA did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

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