Exclusive | FIFA chief Gianni Infantino hiresBritish marketing king Martin Sorrell for survival campaign, raiding orgs coffers: sources

Embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino has tapped British marketing guru Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital machine to salvage his grip on global soccer — and he is footing the bill with the governing body’s own money, three sources familiar with the matter told The Post.The previously undisclosed contract with Monks, a programmatic advertising agency owned by Sorrell’s London-listed S4 Capital, comes as Infantino is fighting for his career.The deal with Sorrell’s firm falls under an engagement authorized through FIFA accounts, according to the three insiders.Infantino has been on the defensive since the disastrous collapse of a $20 billion plan to sell the global soccer giant’s commercial rights to Wall Street investors led by Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital, as first reported by The Post.Infantino quietly hired Sorrell’s agency earlier this month for a targeted digital media campaign ahead of FIFA’s presidential election next March, sources familiar with the arrangement told The Post.

Critics inside the organization’s Swiss headquarters allege that deploying the non-profit’s treasury for what amounts to a personal survival campaign would constitute gross financial misconduct.“If this happened in the NFL or NBA, the commissioner would be fired by lunch,” one senior soccer insider told The Post.“You cannot raid the league treasury to protect your own throne.”Under Article 25 of FIFA’s ethics code, officials are strictly barred from deploying organization funds for electioneering.

The strategy could invite legal exposure under Swiss law.Europe’s governing soccer body UEFA is assessing potential claims under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, according to a US legal filing lodged last month.Those charges carry a prison sentence of up to five years for “criminal mismanagement” if association bosses divert corporate assets for unauthorized personal benefit.The retention of an elite international marketing machine reflects the mou...