Kudos to the Scottish FA - they took the only option against FIFA

Whether the Fifa president gets away with it or not, time will tell. It turns out he might not be quite good enough. The news emerging late on Thursday afternoon that all Uefa member associations will “act as one” to boycott the next World Cup as well as all other Fifa competitions is something, at least.

Nevertheless, a statement from the Scottish Football Association stating that the board agreed unequivocally with the concerns raised by members over the “the manner” in which these proposals were issued fed the uneasy feeling that the main problem was with the process. Infantino stated that a decision on allowing private investors – including Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law – to buy stakes in a new commercial vehicle named Fifa Forward Enterprise must be taken by 19 September. Each association stands to pocket as much as £15 million as soon as January if they give it the green light. “Pure bribery,” was one response.

Probably anticipating the reaction, Infantino went to work on Wednesday evening with the release of a (pre-recorded) near five-minute video.

The “interview with himself”, as it was described in at least one place, underlined why the Fifa president was feeling confident that he might just be capable of pulling off the equivalent of a grand heist.

He’s plausible. He’s articulate. His timing –designed to overshadow the 60th anniversary of England winning the World Cup? – was immaculate.

Speaking in one of the seven languages in which he is apparently fluent, Infantino was saying a lot of what a very good number – and this is the critical point, how many exactly? – of the 211 national football associations around the world want to hear.

All he needs is a majority. National associations in places like Cape Verde and Curacao, currently still high on post-World Cup fumes, and rightly so, are no doubt relishing the prospect of many millions more swilling about the coffers. The national associations of smaller countries are already well disposed towards Infantino whatever the Uefa big guns have to say. He has kept them on side with personal visits and promises of greater inclusion.

He is not working for football fans necessarily; he is working for these officials. Like Neil Doncaster is working for the 42 Scottish clubs that make up the SPFL. Don’t like him? Well, these national associations have the chance to vote him out as soon as next March.

They won’t, I suspect, even if Uefa – made up of 55 member associations – are girding their loins for a battle royale with Fifa. Uefa members gathered online on Thursday afternoon for a hastily convened meeting. Although the head of the Czech Republic FA had already publicly backed Infantino’s plan, one report claimed there was “total unanimity”. An official Uefa statement later accused Fifa of “governance by intimidation”. These are extraordinary times.

Although Uefa’s stance might represent a frustrating bulwark for Infantino’s ambitions, one wonders if the resistance will prove effective to the extent that it will derail the proposal completely. A rare mistake from Infantino has been allowing the dread hand of Trump to be detected in almost everything Fifa does these days. Without this, might the drive to strengthen the commercial side of the game for the benefit of national associations be more palatable?

What Fifa wants tends to happen. The 48-team World Cup was once thought to be a step too far. Now the only surprise will be if this number is not increased to 64 in time for the next World Cup.

“Fifa’s been transformed over the past decade through sweeping governance reform and major expansion and development of competitions,” Infantino noted on Wednesday. And when did Infantino succeed Sepp Blatter? Oh yes, a decade ago. Funny that.

According to Infantino, “too little of football’s commercial value reaches the parts of the game that need it most”. Again, the ears of those running smaller associations will have pricked up – understandably.

And this isn’t a haughty dismissal of the smaller associations making up world football because Scotland are one of them.

Anyone who heard Mike Mulraney speak after the most recent SFA agm can have no doubt that he is as interested in the promised extra cash as anyone. The president was positively salivating about the need to “make hay while the sun shines” as his eyes scanned the World Cup balance sheet. There’s also his dual role as chairperson of Fifa’s finance committee to consider. Awks, as the kids used to say.

But kudos to the SFA for doing what they knew they had to do. It was the only option, in actual fact. Now it really does get interesting.