FIFA President Finds $2m Pay ‘Insulting’
The former European soccer administrator unexpectedly found himself in soccer’s top job in the wake of criminal indictments issued last year against some of the sport’s top leaders by US authorities. Infantino has been under pressure since the May 13 Mexico meeting, his first as FIFA leader after his election in February. Just a day later, FIFA compliance head Domenico Scala quit, saying governing changes promoted by Infantino imperiled efforts to eliminate corruption.
Scala was on the committee that proposed Infantino’s salary. The forty-five (45) year old was offered two million dollars ($2m) a year, according to its former ethics adviser Mark Pieth. The figure is less than the three million dollars ($3m) base salary Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter earned in the year before he was ousted.
”I did not accept the proposal, It was a proposal I found insulting,” said Infantino.
A FIFA statement on Saturday reaffirmed a promise made by Infantino that he’d disclose his salary once an agreement was reached, declining to comment further. Infantino’s staff didn’t make him available for an interview. The FIFA president is at Champions League final in Milan.
Scala and Infantino had a troubled relationship and the new FIFA president discussed ways to remove him, including getting a member organization to proposal his dismissal and seek a vote by the Congress. In the end, the Congress decided on the statute change that expanded the power of the ruling council to hire and fire its independent oversight committees. Scala walked off the Congress before the vote.
