Gay FIFA director shares his inclusive experiences with President Gianni Infantino

“Gianni Infantino – what’s he really like?” 

It’s one of the most common questions I have been asked since joining FIFA from Sky in July 2021. 

“How does he smell?” I’ve been asked that too. 

Gianni’s public persona seems to trigger an almost-obsessive reaction. Some people can’t appear to go a day without posting about him on social media. Others criticize and mock his appearance. If we complain about personal abuse, the answer’s always the same: “Relax, it’s only humor!”

February 26, 2026 will mark Gianni Infantino’s 10 years as FIFA president. By coincidence, it’s also 10 years since I came out as gay to my former colleagues, in an internal blog to promote mental health awareness. 

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The reaction towards the FIFA president broadly depends on where he is around the world. 

I stood on the sidelines at the Stade de Senegal, near Dakar, when tens of thousands of football fans chanted his name at the opening of their new stadium. 

I was in Jakarta, at the opening of FIFA’s office in Indonesia, where he was bombarded by requests to pose for selfies. 

“Thank you, FIFA!” is what he hears a lot. I can imagine some people reading this and rolling their eyes in dismay. But it’s the reality. At least we’re not having our offices raided at the request of the FBI any more. Now they visit them as a trusted partner. 

In November 2022, I had a unique position sitting alongside the FIFA President during his headline-grabbing “Today I feel…” press conference prior to the opening game of the FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar. 

“I have very strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari; Today I feel Arab; Today I feel African; Today I feel gay; Today I feel disabled; Today I feel a migrant worker,” he said in remarks that called out Western “hypocrisy” and suggested Europeans should apologize for their own history “before starting to give moral lessons to people.” 

“I don’t regret it at all,” Mr Infantino told Sky News’ Yalda Hakim recently in London, also confirming that I, in the communications division, had no idea what was coming. “I said what I was feeling.” 

In an inclusive society, shouldn’t he have the right to express himself? 

In the spirit of openness, I felt compelled to make an impromptu intervention at the end of that press conference. Anyone who knows me will know this was entirely out of character, to go so public with something so private. 

“Sitting here as a gay man in Qatar”, I said in front of 400+ journalists and the world’s media. I wouldn’t have felt so comfortable saying it if it wasn’t for Gianni Infantino’s encouragement and support. 

I said I was proud to work for such an inclusive organization, and it’s a view I hold to this day. 

It was broadly ignored by some – “You’re just the media guy, it’s not about you!” – and I received more support from Qataris, in Qatar, than I did from any LGBTQ group. 

I have since mentioned it to some of those groups, who critically wrote to FIFA a few days into the tournament, but made no reference to the remarks of a gay director and the fact the FIFA President hugged him, in front of everyone, on the stage. 

FIFA represents the interests of 211 football associations around the world and, under Gianni Infantino’s 10-year tenure, they have received more than £3.6billion ($5billion) in development funding, around seven times more than the figure before 2016. 

There are around 690 full-time employees in Zurich and Paris and, under the leadership of the FIFA president and the FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström, we are always challenged to be forward-thinking. 

Our objectives are to improve the game and promote it globally, particularly through youth and development programs. We are not-for-profit and our revenues are legally required to be redistributed back into the game – via our ‘FIFA Forward’ development program – which can include developing guides to associations on best practice towards diversity and anti-discrimination. 

We create conditions that allow North Korea’s girls to play international football, where they are reigning under-17 and under-20 champions. 

We push for a more-inclusive environment at matches in Iran and in other countries. 

Gianni and our teams felt strongly about players from Afghanistan. There is now an Afghan Women United team. 

A lot of our work is done away from the cameras, where quiet diplomacy is favoured over media releases. 

In 2024, FIFA signed a three-year funding agreement with the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association. In the same year, the football world united and unanimously approved our ‘Global Stand against Racism’. 

There is a Players’ Voice Panel too, where former players of diverse ethnic backgrounds and nationalities monitor and advise on the implementation of our initiatives. 

FIFA has a Pride network for all employees, and we send a global message of equality, inclusivity and acceptance within the football community. We also proudly fly the rainbow flag over our headquarters every year to mark Pride Month. 

I’m not saying anyone should suddenly love FIFA, as they do in some parts of the world, but please understand we are not the bad guys. We are here to promote that ‘Football Unites the World’. 

I’m not naïve to think everything in the world is perfect. It’s not – far from it – but engagement is always the preference to drive meaningful change. 

We’re not here to defend the actions of any country. But I don’t think we should shy away from calling out hypocrisy either. 

For example, calls to boycott any country that has anti-LGBTQ laws are at odds with the actions of every other country engaging in billions and billions of dollars worth of lucrative trade deals every year. “Stop playing and enjoying football, but keep buying our goods and services!” 

Why should we expect the game, and FIFA, to solve every problem in the world? 

So to answer the first question. Gianni Infantino is restless, tough, human, engaging, empathetic, inclusive and has no time for ‘blah, blah, bull**it’. 

How does he smell? Well, 10 years into his FIFA presidency, I’m still not getting that close to find out because that would be just weird! 

Bryan Swanson is FIFA Director of Media Relations. You can follow him on X @fifa_bryan.

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