FIFA president Infantino was backed by The FA in statement that now looks laughable

The FA fully backed Gianni Infantino's FIFA presidency bid back in 2016. The then-FA chairman, Greg Dyke, hailed him as a “straightforward guy” whilst ex-Manchester United chief David Gill maintained it was “a good day for football”.

Infantino triumphed over the former Asian Football Confederation president, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, by 115 votes to 88 and the FA were fully behind the former UEFA man landing the top job. A decade on and they're putting out statements condemning his grand plans to sell out stakes in the World Cup.

Dyke claimed at the time that Infantino's victory was a new start for FIFA. Gill had been one of Sir Alex Ferguson's key lieutenants at Manchester United but moved on to become the FA director who also sat on the executive committee at both UEFA and FIFA. He too was thrilled to see Infantino’s election.

Infantino vowed to "restore the image of FIFA and make sure everybody will be happy with what we do" when he was elected. A decade on from that opening statement and the former UEFA general secretary is now fighting for his job after his latest controversy.

Infantino's spell as the man in charge of world football has been marred by moves seen in some quarters as little more than money grabbing, even if the Swiss-Italian once claimed that "it’s your money, not the money of the FIFA president".

When he was appointed as FIFA's president the organisation was at an extremely low ebb following a spell under Sepp Blatter marred by corruption. Infantino vowed to change that perception, but as the years have gone on his moves have appeared more and more self obsessed.

His latest move, a desire to sell stakes in FIFA's tournaments, the main one being the World Cup, to outside investors is seen purely as a financial coup.

None of the major federations around the world, led by UEFA, want anything to do with it and, given it would need member approval, it looks like the proposal is already dead in the water. UEFA branded the proposal "irresponsible and indefensible" while labelling Infantino's offer of £30m to FIFA's 211 members to endorse his new enterprise - while warning nations they wouldn't get that cash if it ultimately passed but they voted against him - as "governance by intimidation – an act of coercion unworthy of an institution entrusted with the stewardship of the global game."

Even before this drastic World Cup plot, Infantino had been the man who presided over an expanded World Cup, which opened doors to lesser nations, but also helped raise more cash for FIFA given the additional games. The World Cup we've just seen was overshadowed by ludicrious ticket prices, which Infantino continued to defend.

He's also masterminded a new Club World Cup, which went from seven teams to 32. That again was seen by some as FIFA trying to create a rival to the Champions League, UEFA's tournament which remains the most revered club competition in the world. The expanded Club World Cup showed little regard for player welfare given the amount of games.

All of which makes Infantino's desire to bring FIFA out of the doldrums all the more laughable 10 years on, with the former UEFA man's legacy looking increasingly tarnished.

He claimed: “We enter now a new era. We’ll restore the image of FIFA and make sure everybody will be happy with what we do.”

Speaking to those who voted for him he vowed: “I want to be the president of all of you. I travelled through the globe and I will continue to do this. I want to work with all of you to restore and rebuild a new era where we can put football in the centre of the stage. Fifa has gone through sad times, moments of crisis. But those times are over.”

Despite the factions that now exist, the FIFA president once hailed: “I’m a candidate of the whole world and football. We have to build bridges, not walls.”

The irony now being that the walls are firmly caving in with three federations issuing statements to combat his World Cup plans, some calling for change. All whilst Infantino loses those around him as the faith in him diminishes.