Lineker: “I refused to work for FIFA after being asked to meet with Putin”

Gary Lineker. legendary English striker who played in the Barcelona among other teams, explained on the radio show ‘The Rest Is Football’ that he rejected an offer to work for FIFA after being invited to meet with Vladimir Putin in the draw for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“I thought, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ So I just said, ‘Sorry, I have a lot of work to do with the script. I’m trying to get everything ready.'”explained Lineker, who after hanging up his boots has become a successful TV presenter of football content.

This distancing from the world governing body is a firm decision. ““A few years ago I decided not to have any relationship with FIFA,” he stressed. “I think it is better not to be influenced from within. That’s why I’ve deliberately kept my distance, I would say since the beginning of this decade. “It was a premeditated strategy.”

Even though Gianni Infantino has announced his intention to run for a fourth term as FIFA president in the March 2027 elections, Lineker believes that “It is absurd that a person can be president of FIFA for several consecutive terms.”

Finally, Lineker warned that the FIFA president would not receive a warm welcome from fans if he attended a match in the United Kingdom today: “At least there would be a wave of boos and some chants that might end with the word ‘asshole.'”

Infantino has many detractors in world football after the project to privatize FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, and UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Confederation are against his candidacy to continue presiding over FIFA.