FIFA and Gianni Infantino: A masterclass in how not to win stakeholder votes? — by Victor Oladokun

Football is the world’s most universal language. It doesn’t care about your passport, your bank balance, or your politics.

A kid kicking a battered ball in the backstreets of Maiduguri, Nigeria shares the exact same dream as a kid in a top notch academy in Munich, Germany.

That is the magic of FIFA. It has always made dreams possible.

But all is not well in the House of FIFA.

President Gianni Infantino is caught up in a global uproar. His proposal to create a FIFA Forward Enterprise as a a commercial subsidiary to package the organisation’s broadcasts, sponsorships, ticketing and event rights, valued at $20 billion, and sell a minority stake to private investors, has not gone down well.

His critics say they were never properly consulted. Worse, they insist the proposal looks like intimidation dressed up like opportunity.

From a strategic communications perspective, the rollout seems to be a masterclass in how not to secure the buy-in of the people whose votes you need.

⚽ First, secrecy is not strategy. When dealing with a membership associations, plans of this magnitude should never have landed on their desks in the form of a near-finished product with a hard deadline, and a reminder of the money they will forgo if they say “no” to the proposal.

Thats a Yellow Card!

The end result will be suspicion and pushback.

⚽ Second, a narrative by critics suggesting that the “The World Cup is for sale to Trump-linked investors,” went viral. Every FIFA explanation afterwards simply sounded like damage control.

Ultimately, perception is reality.

Rightly or wrongly, the perception is the proposal is not in the best interest of the sport or fans.

⚽ Third, stakeholders who matter most, the confederations and smaller associations, were treated as recipients, rather than co-authors.

Football has always been about the power of team work. As such, a better and more collective approach would have yielded different results.

FIFA could have brought the leadership of the six global confederations together. Not to rubber-stamp, but co-design the strategies, define limits to investor influence, and ask all the important “what if” “how” and “who” questions.

The fact is, Infantino’s plan is brilliant. It can finally lift the entire global game, especially in developing countries that are struggling to develop their own home-grown programs, brands, leagues, and opportunities for the youth.

But all of football’s greatest moments have been collective moments. As such, a change of this magnitude requires the same collective spirit.

The lessons?

⚽ Consult early.

⚽ Share ownership narrative.

⚽ Be transparent about the money.

⚽ Speak to the federations as partners in a shared future, not as an afterthought.

The bottom line is that the pitch and huge potential are still there.

They just need better preparation before the first whistle is blown.