After a World Cup full of lowlights, Gianni Infantino's selfie next to Pele's open casket was just another inane move.
Gianni Infantino's choice to take pictures next to Pele's open casket has raised a lot of concerns. These consist of: Is there a sacred cow? Who really wants to take a photo with Infantino? Didn't he have the option of waiting for Becks?
Infantino had to make do with a bunch of guys, including former Santos winger Manoel Maria, because there has been no news on whether a man of the people and Qatari ambassador Golden Balls is outside Vila Belmiro and patiently waiting for his time.
No one appears to have objected when the Fifa president and pals recorded their questionable souvenir in a video of the occurrence. However, such mugging for the camera just doesn't seem to match the occasion. Those standing only a few steps away from the casket seem gloomy. As one lady sobs onto another's shoulder, another woman consoles her.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the prime minister of Denmark, received criticism for her beaming photo with Barack Obama and David Cameron at Nelson Mandela's funeral in 2013. Maybe they'll repeat their narrative that it seemed more joyous than tragic? In fact, it would be unjust to require that global grieving adheres to this nation's standards of solemn meditation.
What cannot be contested is that taking smiling pictures next to the body of a hero is a grave error of judgment. Infantino has a strangely vacuous behavior, but it's not new.
Aside from Fifa's absolutely accurate assertion that Qatar's stadiums were 96% full during the group stage, Infantino's World Cup wasn't his best. His speech, "I Feel a Migrant Worker," which opened it, made a strong declaration. I hope he checked with HR.
Inexplicably, Salt Bae had a larger role in Argentina's celebrations than many other players of the team after it was all said and done. Infantino has never been a man hesitant to act in the face of criticism, which is to his credit. He opened Instagram two days before Christmas and boldly unfollowed Salt Bae.
Infantino has not yet provided any details on his most recent idea, a network of Pele-themed stadiums spread throughout the globe. He has our best wishes for success in getting that proposal approved in Argentina. It bears the hallmark of a creative problem-solving exercise gone wrong. Keep in mind that there are no bad ideas! But how about we give this one a little more thought?
You can be sure that the British version of the Peleverse, should his organization decide to move forward with it, would uphold Fifa's illustrious legacy of collaborative multi-platform partnerships: "Welcome to Halifax, and ‘PeleXTheShay’. No controversial hats, the only way to pay is Visa and if you try to bring in a non-approved Bovril you will be ordered to decant into a bottle of Coke Zero."
Before announcing his stadium scheme Infantino delivered a necessarily bland tribute to Pele, saying “I had the great privilege of meeting Pelé on several occasions - an incredible human being with a big heart.” Unfortunately, this sounded a lot like the comedian Limmy’s usual response to any celebrity death, mocking the inanity of performative mourning, in which he claims to have met the recently deceased “at a charity event. They were surprisingly down to earth and VERY funny.”
Infantino’s oft-repeated mission statement is to make football truly global. One on hand these appeals to worldwide unity are admirable. On the other, they are as trite as We Are The World, Michael Jackson’s incorrect answer to Band-Aid.
“Football unites the world,” is the name for one of the inane campaigns Fifa promoted via armbands in Qatar. Infantino is making good progress here because the world is coming to a unanimous conclusion about him: he is much like any other oaf with an Instagram account.
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