FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been selected as this year's effigy for an annual bonfire in Kent. The Edenbridge Bonfire Society unveiled his cartoon effigy ahead of their celebrations on Thursday.
The society explained that he'd been chosen for his 'string of decisions that have left their mark on the world of football in the wake of the World Cup'. Previous celebrity targets have included former UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump, whose face is part of the effigy.
Investigation over Trump links
Infantino worked closely with Trump during the US-held Club World Cup in 2025 and this year's international edition. The FIFA chief could now face questions over his links to the Commander-in-Chief after the Democrat Party seized control of Congress at the midterm elections in the US.
In July, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee confirmed that they'd launched an investigation into a 'sustained campaign' by FIFA and Infantino to curry favour with Trump. They also requested that Infantino submit documents and appear before the Committee.
A spokeswoman for the Committee Democrats then said in September that Infantino and FIFA's level of co-operation with the investigation had been 'woefully inadequate'. The spokeswoman also said on September 23 that staff had received a briefing on litigation relating to the FIFA bribery scandal.
Rejected plan and re-election bid
She added: "FIFA has yet to turn over any priority documents requested by the committee - including those that would show how much money FIFA has given the Trump family - answer key questions around the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize or explain how the Kushner-Infantino scheme to sell off the World Cup was conceived."
Two days after the Committee's investigation was launched, on July 28, The Times reported Infantino was developing a plan to sell stakes in a company, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to private investors. Later the same day, FIFA confirmed the proposal was that FFE should run the commercial interests of the World Cup and other FIFA competitions, and that the leader of the private investor group would be Thrive Capital. Thrive was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The FFE plan was rejected by three continental confederations, including European football's governing body UEFA, which threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments unless the plan was abandoned. Infantino announced the idea had been withdrawn on August 1.
UEFA nevertheless said it had 'lost confidence' in Infantino over the affair and has pledged to identify a candidate to stand against him in next year's FIFA presidential election, though nothing has been announced so far with two weeks to go until the deadline for candidacies to be submitted.
Infantino appears to have strong support for re-election in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. Campaign group FairSquare has called on national associations to challenge Infantino’s eligibility to stand for a fourth term.
FIFA's statutes say no person may serve as president for more than three terms, but on the eve of the 2022 World Cup final it was announced FIFA Council had taken the decision to discount Infantino's first term between 2016 and 2019, leaving him free to run again in 2027.
