From Barcelona to the BBC studios, Gary Lineker has long occupied a prominent place in European football’s public conversation. Now the former England striker has described why he chose to keep FIFA at arm’s length after being invited to meet Vladimir Putin during the draw for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker said he turned down the governing body’s approach because he did not want to take part in the proposed engagement around the tournament draw.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to do that,’” Lineker said. “So I told them I had plenty of work to do on the script and was trying to get everything ready.”
The former Barcelona forward, who built a successful television career after retiring, said the episode reflected a deliberate decision to avoid any formal connection with FIFA.
Lineker’s deliberate distance from FIFA
“A few years ago, I decided not to have any relationship with FIFA,” he said. “I think it is better not to be influenced from within. That is why I have deliberately kept my distance, since the start of this decade, I would say. It was a planned strategy.”
His comments arrive as Gianni Infantino intends to seek a fourth term as FIFA president at the organisation’s March 2027 election. Lineker believes the prospect of repeated consecutive mandates is difficult to justify.
“It is absurd that one person can be FIFA president for several terms in a row,” he said.
Warning over a British reception
Lineker also suggested that Infantino would face a hostile atmosphere if he attended a match in the United Kingdom now, predicting at least a wave of booing and chants that could end with an insult.
Infantino has attracted opposition across international football, particularly around proposals to privatise FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation are among the bodies opposed to his continued presidency bid.
