Today’s briefing:
— Meet the world’s most hated man
— Guess whose batteries are best
— Can you put that on your roof?
Your Insider’s briefing:
— Meet the world’s most hated man
— Guess whose batteries are best
— Can you put that on your roof?
Good morning {{first_name | Intriguer}}. Strip away the acronyms, press releases, and diplomatic double-speak, and you can boil a lot of today’s big debates down to a battle between two types of people: Wizards and Prophets.
As Charles Mann famously framed it, the Wizards are the pragmatists convinced human tech, capital, and sheer hustle is all we need to engineer ourselves out of this mess. The Prophets, on the other hand, warn that without moral restraint and ethical guardrails, that very same ingenuity simply risks digging us even deeper.
Mann was distilling decades of environmental debate down to two camps (inspired by Borlaug and Vogt), but you could use his same framing for debates around AI, economics, energy, and beyond. And while Mann stops short of declaring a formal compromise between the two, he leaves you (or at least me?) with a strong impression that we really need both.
Maybe keep that in mind as we explore today’s briefing on arguably the world’s most hated man, Gianni Infantino.
 | Managing Editor Jeremy Dicker |
🏝️ Heads-up: we’ll be on our annual August break next week, but will still be in the group-chat exploring world events, so become an Insider today!
Number of the day
19 years
That’s the last time the yields on US 30-year Treasury bonds were this high, after the Fed held rates steady for a seventh consecutive month. Investors seem to have doubts about new chair Kevin Warsh’s ability to tame inflation amid the Iran war, not to mention DC’s longer-term fiscal habit.
The beautiful game.
There are several people now vying for the title of ‘Most Hated Man’. Some are politicians, some are tycoons, and some are called Martin Shkreli.
But while we promise (🤞?) this is our last FIFA story for four years, another top contender right now is the above Swiss lawyer called Gianni Infantino. With world leaders now weighing in, the reasons are both international and intriguing (🤝).
So shall we?
Infantino is, of course, head of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, aka FIFA — the world body for football but also beach soccer and futsal!
But viewing FIFA as just another sports body is pretty incomplete these days given the raw international cash, attention, and leader influence it yields:
A ~fifth of the world’s population now typically watches the final, and
This year’s World Cup earned FIFA $15B (more than Somalia’s GDP)!
And yet… if football is the world’s favourite sport, why does everyone hate FIFA? And why are we briefing you on the matter?
There are a few reasons, starting with…
The president
Infantino himself is (ahem) not well-liked. Adjectives you might consider include ‘self-aggrandising’: his name appears twice on the Club World Cup trophy!
While we’re at it, let’s add ‘thin-skinned’: he posted a 14-slide text carousel on Instagram with real ‘sorry to my haters’ energy. Odd vibe for a guy who’s 56?
Okay we’re on a roll so let’s also go with ‘sycophantic’ for the way he cosies up to the rich and powerful: like renting Trump Tower office space, and seemingly creating an entire new FIFA Peace Prize for the US president.
And yes, it doesn’t help that he looks like Dr Evil from Austin Powers.
The corruption scandals
Infantino’s own rise actually started with a huge scandal: back in 2015, Swiss cops arrested several top FIFA executives at Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel on US corruption charges — turns out they were taking epic bribes to shape everything from clothing sponsorships, the 2010 host selection process, and FIFA’s 2011 presidential election.
This all fried so many FIFA careers, it actually paved the way for Infantino to emerge as an anti-corruption candidate. But the association’s reputation never really recovered. In fact, it’s only gotten worse, with accusations of…
Cosying up to autocrats
Beyond his promises to clean up FIFA, Infantino also pledged to expand the sport beyond its European roots, which sounds great in theory, but in practice…
He’s vigorously defended Qatar’s 2022 World Cup (which cost thousands of worker lives), and oversaw a ehm… unique ✌️voting✌️ process that awarded hosting rights for both 2030 (Spain, Morocco, Portugal) and 2034 (Saudi Arabia), no competition.
Plus it doesn’t help that Saudi Arabia poured $1B into the ‘DAZN’ sports streamer, right after DAZN poured an overpriced $1B into FIFA for streaming rights, in a deal done the same week the Saudis won 2034 hosting rights.
Infantino has also brought the travelling FIFA Congress meeting to champions of freedom like (*checks notes*) Russia and Bahrain.
Some counter that this is just Europeans whining about losing football’s centre of gravity, but it's not only Europeans who accuse FIFA of…
Selling out the sport
Mr Infantino has now unveiled his latest proposal: establishing a spin-off venture – Fifa Forward Enterprise – that’d control the commercial rights: think TV, tickets, sponsorships. He’s then proposing to sell minority stakes to private investors led by none other than Joshua Kushner (yes, brother to Trump’s son-in-law).
FIFA’s 211 member associations (representing all of us) now have until 19 September to back Infantino’s plan, and in the meantime, he’s now offering them a one-time $20M payment in exchange for endorsement!
He pitches the idea as a boost for the world’s smaller football countries and “the democratisation of football worldwide”, though maybe genuine democratisation would open the investment up to tender rather than Kushner?
Unsurprisingly, not everyone’s convinced.
Europe’s powerful Uefa football association has condemned the plan as a way to “use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends”, while its influential Concacaf counterpart in the Americas is unhappy about the lack of consultation.
Even world leaders like the UK’s new Andy Burnham are weighing in, declaring “football does not belong to investors.”
But here’s the kicker. Even notorious former FIFA president Sepp Blatter — impressively somehow banned from football by FIFA’s own ethics committee! — warned, “the close relationship between the Fifa president and the US president has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football. No-one has the right to sell our game.”
Intrigue’s Take
Forget sport for a moment (if not forever) and instead consider that FIFA is merely a useful mirror for our world: it’s not a government, nor the UN, but it manages to concentrate money, prestige, and soft power on a scale few actual states can match.
And yet…
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Intrigue’s Take
Forget sport for a moment (if not forever) and instead consider that FIFA is merely a useful mirror for our world: it’s not a government, nor the UN, but it manages to concentrate money, prestige, and soft power on a scale few actual states can match.
And yet, like other international institutions, its credibility has been slowly hollowed out, via the quiet betrayal of a grand vision in a familiar pattern of self-dealing, opacity, and proximity to power: treating a shared love like a private liquidity event.
There’s also arguably a mirror here in America’s shifting global role: it’s just a decade ago that it was really the US justice department driving the process to bust open FIFA’s luxury suites and enforce transparency for a sport Americans still barely even liked (though would soon gladly co-host). But fast forward to today, and the main US role in Infantino’s big new plan is potentially via some sweetheart private equity deal — from upholding the system, to leveraging it?
Anyway, the temptation, once you notice this institutional credibility pattern everywhere, is raw cynicism. If even the non-profit running the world’s favourite game can’t get this right, what hope is there?
The harder, less fashionable answer is that walking away only accelerates the decay.
Sound even smarter:
FIFA is based in Zurich and has been around since 1904.
President Trump has reportedly floated Infantino as a contender to be the next UN boss, though given the current state of the UN, surely Infantino would see that as a demotion?
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Meanwhile, elsewhere…
🇮🇷 IRAN — Escalation and expansion.
After pledging to “beat the f—ing sh— out of Iran” for yesterday’s attempts on US forces in Jordan, the US has now launched another heavy wave of overnight strikes across Iran. Meanwhile, presumed Iranian drones just struck a US-owned floating LNG storage tanker at Egypt’s Damietta port on the Mediterranean, with a neighbouring tanker also ablaze. (NYT $)
Comment: It’s the first time Egypt (an occasional regional mediator) has been hit in this war, though the US tanker seems to have been the target in presumed revenge for last week’s Caspian hit on an Iranian ship. Either way, it now moves the risk map well beyond Hormuz, the Gulf, and the Red Sea. As for those latest US strikes across Iran? CENTCOM says they hit military command centres plus missile and drone facilities — if you’re surprised such targets were still standing after months of war, take it as an illustration of how hard it is to permanently degrade a dispersed, hardened, and regenerative missile network from the air alone.
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES — Big tech, high yields.
Microsoft shares are up 4% in after-hours trading after a blowout earnings report driven by 43% cloud growth. It was a dash of much-needed good news after a day when US chipmakers wiped $1T in market cap amid lingering AI spending fears, fanned by Meta’s drop in free cash flow. (WSJ $)
Comment: Wall Street is living in a tale of three markets: AI and cloud momentum keeping Big Tech flush, while bond traders sweat. We say ‘three’ because somehow, Apple is now the world’s most valuable listed company again, despite being widely seen as an AI laggard. It’s probably because Apple is both a) a key gateway to 2+ billion consumers, and b) investors are starting to like its lighter ‘rent-not-build’ strategy for AI. While we’re counting markets, Korea’s Kospi index is now down 40% over the last ~40 days, as AI jitters unwind a big bout of retail leverage. And Chinese stocks are on track for their worst month in a decade, caught in the same global tech selloff.
🇺🇳 UNITED NATIONS — First straw poll.
The 15 members of the UN Security Council will hold their first straw poll today (Thurs). It’s an informal, non-binding vote to feel out any preferences for (and vetoes against!) the seven candidates now vying to succeed António Guterres as UN Secretary-General. (NPR)
Comment: A successful candidate needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes from the permanent five (US, China, Russia, France, UK). So while broad appeal is key to actually doing the job, getting there in the first place really means convincing an audience of five. If there’s no clear frontrunner (like Argentina’s Grossi or Costa Rica’s Grynspan), it raises the chance of more dark horses emerging.
🇸🇩 SUDAN — Tide turning?
The Sudanese military might be inflicting heavy losses on the notorious RSF paramilitary, amid reports Khartoum has retaken key towns plus a strategic highway linking out to the besieged city of El-Obeid. There are also credible reports of RSF defections amidst the chaos. (BBC)
Comment: Only time will tell whether any of this is enough to help the half a million folks sheltering in El-Obeid amid an 18-month RSF siege. Meanwhile, if the RSF really is losing the momentum, it’ll be a disaster for its various foreign backers like the Emiratis, who’ll end up with the reputational cost but not the strategic advantage.
🇨🇳 CHINA — We got you fam.
The folks at Reuters are reporting that China has sold Iran 400 local-made shoulder-launched air-defence systems (with the regrettable acronym of MANPADS) worth ~$70M. The first shipment is reportedly due in Iran within weeks. (SCMP)
Comment: If true, it’s a blow to President Trump, not just because it further complicates his military options against Iran, but because he’s publicly touted President Xi’s personal promise not to arm Iran. The reported attempts at concealment — routed via Hong Kong and/or Pakistan — give the Reuters report an added ring of truth for us, though everyone’s denying.
🇫🇷 FRANCE — Diplo-spat.
Per Reuters again (hot streak), DC is mulling rejecting France’s incoming ambassador, as part of a broader spat after the US unsuccessfully opposed the UN human rights boss getting a second term. (Reuters)
Comment: The US has long disliked Volker Türk on allegations he targets democracies like the US and Israel while going soft on authoritarians like Iran and China. But after the vote, France’s UN mission tweeted that the US now “stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated”, prompting US diplomats to later walk out when the French ambassador at the UN Security Council started addressing Trump’s own record. But allies blocking ambassadorial appointments would be an unusually punitive next step for what arguably all began with a tweet.
🇷🇺 RUSSIA — One man’s terrorist…
Moscow has added Telegram chat-app founder Pavel Durov to its international wanted list, on allegations he’s aiding terrorists and has ties to Ukrainian intelligence. (Le Monde)
Comment: Durov — who famously left Russia years ago after supposedly refusing to share platform data with the Kremlin — has responded with the middle finger and an old satirical pic depicting him as a terrorist. Between his legal battles in France, these charges back in his birthplace, and now a court battle in Australia, he’s learning the hard way that running a platform committed to absolute neutrality can just end up leaving you unpopular everywhere.
Extra Intrigue
Meanwhile in other worlds… (transport edition!)
Aviation: Australian flag carrier Qantas just landed its modified new A350 passenger jet in Toulouse, 24 hours and 24 minutes after leaving Melbourne. The record-breaking flight is part of testing for its new direct London service.
EVs: India’s Tata Motors and Mahindra just topped a global ranking for battery efficiency, ahead of America’s Tesla in third and China’s BYD in fourth. The two Indian automakers still lag in charging speed and driving range.
Aerospace: California startup JetZero just banked DC support for its wild new blended-wing airliner (like a manta ray), aiming to be the first US challenger to Boeing’s monopoly in decades. The firm already has a $235M air force deal.
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Roof of the day
The image circulating on Russian social media
The above spicy image has been circulating on Russian social media, translating to “This is not Wildberries. Fly past.” 🌶️ Why so spicy?
Countering Putin’s invasion, Ukrainian long-range drones have now torched at least ten major hubs belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s version of an Amazon online market. Kyiv claims the firm supplies Putin’s invasion, and dubs the hits “long-range sanctions”. The latest warehouse hits were just hours ago in Penza (~90,000 m²) and Udmurtia (50,000 m²). Yesterday it was another in Ryazan (~173,000 m²!).
So we’re now talking ~20% of the company’s total storage capacity — plus billions in random goods belonging to thousands of small sellers across Russia — gone. To boot, Wildberries had just rewritten its terms to classify Ukrainian drones as force majeure, so all those sellers will get zero compensation, and many will collapse. The firm is now reportedly looking for warehouse space over the border in Kazakhstan.
Anyway, that brings us to today’s architectural flourish, with the main local Wildberries competitor (Ozon) reportedly painting its own warehouses urging Ukrainian drones not to hit. We say ‘reportedly’ because the firm isn’t commenting, and we doubt it’ll confirm any time soon: admitting you need to beg Ukrainian drones for mercy would be an awkward look for the Kremlin.
If it’s an info-op faked by Ukraine, well it’s now trending in Russia.
Today’s poll
What do you think this Fifa plan is *mostly* about?
Yesterday’s poll: What do you think of this new US ban on robots from China?
🦾 It'll help US industry catch up (44%)
🤖 It'll harm US industry via higher costs and slower tech (55%)
✍️ Other (write in!) (1%)
Your two cents:
🤖 J: “I don't think the US response is well thought out. It resembles a panic approach to a long-term problem.”
🦾 F: “Security risk is way too much to have China’s robots prowling around in America.”
✍️ M.M: “Maybe we should ban these across the board. Did NO ONE see any of the 'Terminator' movies?”