Infantino: The man who tried to sell football
This commentary piece critiques FIFA president Gianni Infantino's leadership style and recent controversies regarding the commercialization of the World Cup. The author uses a literary comparison to Homer's Odyssey to illustrate Infantino's perceived hubris.
Why it matters
FIFA's governance and the commercial direction of global football impact billions of fans and the integrity of the sport.
Hello and welcome to a new version of OFFSIDE, a weekly newsletter looking at everything happening in the Beautiful Game.One pivotal moment in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey shows just how far the film departs from Homer’s epic. In the original, Odysseus tells the Cyclops Polyphemus that his name is “Outis”, meaning “Nobody” or “No One”, before he and his men blind him. When the other Cyclopes come to check on Polyphemus, they are told that “Nobody” is attacking him, leaving them with little reason to intervene.Odysseus escapes the cave, yet cannot resist taunting Polyphemus and revealing his true identity. That gives the Cyclops everything he needs to escalate the complaint to his father, Poseidon, god of the sea, who turns the journey home for Odysseus and Co into the ancient Ryanair experience.
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