Stanis Elsborg
@staniselsborg.bsky.social
Head of @playthegame-org.bsky.social • Sport, history and politics • +45 61774915 • stanis@playthegame.org
Something I wrote on the relationship between Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. inews.co.uk/news/world/i...
Infantino mistook Trump for an ally. Now he'll pay the price
The Fifa President borrowed from the US President's playbook, with disastrous results
inews.co.uk
How did we get here? This podcast looks back at Infantino’s ten years in power - and the decisions, alliances and governance failures. The podcast was only possible because journalists and whistleblowers spent years exposing how FIFA really works. 🎧 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm
Weighing in on BBC News this evening after an extraordinary week in football politics. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has withdrawn his commercial proposal, while UEFA has declared that it has lost confidence in his leadership. The proposal is gone. Infantino's leadership crisis remains.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino says he has scrapped the controversial plan to sell off stakes in the governing body's major competitions, following widespread opposition❗️ www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
Fifa World Cup plans: Gianni Infantino scraps private investment proposal after widespread opposition
Football's world governing body abandons plans to sell off stakes in its major competitions after widespread opposition to president Gianni Infantino's proposal.
bbc.com
A lot of attention ok FIFA these - not least due to the excellent work by journalists. They do it everyday. All year. To follow the great journalists who write the most important stories on football, check out this group! Great initiative by @philippeauclair.bsky.social go.bsky.app/6oxTr7j
Another extraordinary twist in what has already been an unprecedented week at FIFA. This time, one of the organisation’s most senior executives publicly turns on Gianni Infantino. Via @tariqpanja.bsky.social Story by @gdunbarap.bsky.social 👉 apnews.com/article/cord...
In a week of incendiary statements, this from Kevin Lamour, who at least for tonight remains FIFA COO, is incredibly damning in that it is from an insider that goes beyond this one scheme and is an assassination in a few hundred words of the FIFA president as a leader of global football.
Breaking: Via @martynziegler.bsky.social Incredible. FIFA has reportedly circulated a briefing on expanding the World Cup to 64 teams, with a decision expected by August 14. As FIFA seeks outside investors, it’s fair to ask: who benefits most from creating even more commercial inventory?
As the ship sinks, everyone will try and build their own story, a narrative for why what has happened should never have happened. But figures like Cordeiro and some of these national and regional football leaders have enabled this behaviour for quite some time. Their roles will have to be considered
Including this, then immediately following it with bulletpoints about how they'll sell football is top level public statementing
Stanis Elsborg@staniselsborg.bsky.social · 5d agoVery interesting development. • FIFA acknowledges and respects feedback and concern aired in public • FIFA reaffirms its commitment to an open and democratic consultation • Erroneous reporting in the media disrupted planned consultation process inside.fifa.com/organisation...
Very interesting development. • FIFA acknowledges and respects feedback and concern aired in public • FIFA reaffirms its commitment to an open and democratic consultation • Erroneous reporting in the media disrupted planned consultation process inside.fifa.com/organisation...
Clarifications on FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal
We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced ...
inside.fifa.com
Going live on BBC News in about an hour to discuss UEFA’s extraordinary threat to boycott FIFA competitions over FIFA’s proposed commercial restructuring. www.uefa.com/news-media/n...
Statement on behalf of UEFA and its 55 national associations
UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions.
uefa.com
Extraordinary development. “No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety…” Via @martynziegler.bsky.social
Sophia Cali and Ali Walker on whether Qatari Nasser Al-Khaleifi could emerge as a candidate to succeed Gianni Infantino as FIFA president 👉 www.politico.com/news/2026/07... For more background and the role he plays in securing Qatar’s grip on world sport 👉 www.playthegame.org/news/euro-20...
European soccer officials eye Qatari sports executive to challenge Infantino
Anger over FIFA’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup has pushed European soccer leaders to rally behind a potential challenger: Paris Saint-Germain boss Nasser al-Khelaifi.
politico.com
Ten years of Infantino. What has changed at FIFA? Three takes in three languages: 🎧 German: www.deutschlandfunk.de/behind-the-g... 🎧 English: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s... 📺 Danish, with English subtitles: www.dr.dk/drtv/episode...
Behind The Games - Wer den Sport kontrolliert
Seit zehn Jahren ist Gianni Infantino FIFA-Präsident und dabei so mächtig wie kein Fußballfunktionär vor ihm. "Behind The Games” blickt tief in das raffinierte System Infantino und erzählt bisher unbe...
deutschlandfunk.de
Uefa has reacted furiously to @martynziegler.bsky.social’s report that Fifa president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the men’s World Cup to investors. On BBC tomorrow morning on this matter. www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...
Uefa furious over reports Fifa plans to sell stakes in World Cup
Uefa has reacted furiously to reports Fifa president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the men’s World Cup to investors.
independent.co.uk
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, is pushing FIFA to provide all of its records on its contacts with Trump, his administration and the Trump Organization, by August 9, 2026. Via @adamcrafton.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/747...
Infantino requested to appear before House committee over Trump relationship
nytimes.com
What a strange and angry post from the FIFA president. While preaching “love” he has come across extremely thin skinned and while at the same time attempted to downplay what has happened to Iran, fans denied visas, Omar Artan and the Balogun situations as normal. Like in a parallel universe.
Read this sharp piece by @adamcrafton.bsky.social from @nytimes.com 👇 Then, for the wider context, listen to or read my examination of Infantino’s ten years in power. The section below could hardly feel more timely. 🎧📰 www.playthegame.org/news/infanti... 📰 www.nytimes.com/athletic/747...
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is over! To follow the great journalist who wrote a lot of stories, check out this group! Great initiative by @philippeauclair.bsky.social go.bsky.app/6oxTr7j
This World Cup has shown why journalism in sport matters! A few weeks ago, we launched the Play the Game Journalism Fund to support original and investigative journalism on integrity issues in sport. Help us fund journalism that holds sport to account👉 www.playthegame.org/journalism-f...
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is over! To follow the great journalist who wrote a lot of stories, check out this group! Great initiative by @philippeauclair.bsky.social go.bsky.app/6oxTr7j
🎙️ Have you listened to the Play the Game Podcast yet? The idea is simple: to give space and a longer life to the voices, stories, and debates about the people, powers, and politics shaping sport. These are the episodes we have published👇 Subsribe👉 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm
Substances and methods exist where any trace can disappear from your body in 4-5 hours or less. So...if you know you won't get tested at night, you have carte blanche to do certain things. See, e.g. this article on EPO microdosing veloracycling.com/features/tou... 3/
Inside the rulebook: why Pogačar and Vingegaard were tested overnight, and what the rules really allow
Learn why Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard faced anti-doping controls at 2am. Explore the UCI rules and science of overnight testing.
veloracycling.com
MUST READ! “The #2026WorldCup has produced beautiful football and unforgettable images. But it has also shown how easily the beautiful game can become a beautiful disguise. Fifa should not be allowed to write the legacy alone.” Written by the excellent @staniselsborg.bsky.social
Stanis Elsborg@staniselsborg.bsky.social · 2w agoThe final crowns a winner. Yet the World Cup’s real legacy lies off the pitch: at borders, on policed streets, in Fifa’s opaque governance, betting markets, authoritarian states, and among those its spectacle pushed aside. Op-ed for @josimarfootball.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2026/07/17/t...
The final crowns a winner. Yet the World Cup’s real legacy lies off the pitch: at borders, on policed streets, in Fifa’s opaque governance, betting markets, authoritarian states, and among those its spectacle pushed aside. Op-ed for @josimarfootball.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2026/07/17/t...
The World Cup Legacy Fifa Does Not Want to Talk About - josimarfootball.com
The final will crown a champion, but the 2026 World Cup's true legacy lies far from the pitch.
josimarfootball.com
A hard-hitting op-ed by the US Soccer Vice President, taking aim at FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Infantino’s Faustian bargain with Trump has stained football’s biggest stage
Gianni Infantino sought influence with Donald Trump. Instead, Fifa’s president has entangled football in politics and wounded the game’s credibility
theguardian.com
Ny! New! The final will crown a champion, but the 2026 World Cup's true legacy lies far from the pitch. By @staniselsborg.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2026/07/17/t...
The World Cup Legacy Fifa Does Not Want to Talk About - josimarfootball.com
The final will crown a champion, but the 2026 World Cup's true legacy lies far from the pitch.
josimarfootball.com