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.”
Another source fumed: “This is exactly why governance has to radically improve at FIFA. This is a clear abuse of office – how does this relate to him carrying out his job as president?”
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 mounting pressure inside FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
With European soccer leaders actively vetting challengers for the March ballot, Infantino is calling on Sorrell’s digital operation to bypass traditional media channels.
While Sorrell famously declared earlier this year that traditional “PR is dead,” his agency Monks specializes in exactly what Infantino may need to survive.
The company’s expertise focuses on data-driven algorithmic targeting, behavioral tracking, and digital voter mobilization designed to rally support online — which could potentially influence member associations across Africa, Asia and the Americas
Reached by The Post on Friday, a Monks spokesperson said: “We don’t respond to questions on clients. Any enquiries should be directed to FIFA.”
The global soccer boss was in New York City over the past two days for meetings at the UN General Assembly, shacking up at the swanky Midtown hotel The St. Regis, two people familiar with his travel schedule said.
He was set to visit the British Virgin Islands and Jamaica on Friday, before jetting to St Kitts and Antigua on Saturday, the people said.
Soccer fans are launching a new attack ad on the top soccer chief this weekend with a billboard in Times Square, just weeks after a public missive calling for him to resign, two sources familiar with the plans told The Post.
Infantino has been scrambling to keep his presidency intact.
The Post reported last month that he traveled on a private Gulfstream jet provided by Qatar in what critics characterized as an early bid to shore up support for his candidacy.
That came just weeks after Infantino sparked a global furor by unilaterally overturning a World Cup red card for US striker Folarin Balogun following a phone call from President Trump.
The unprecedented move ahead of a knockout match against Belgium prompted UEFA to publicly accuse FIFA of crossing a “red line,” and the Belgian soccer federation is demanding answers at a crisis FIFA summit next month.
Meanwhile, UEFA has launched a US court battle through a legal discovery application to compel the disclosure of internal documents linked to the botched Kushner buyout blueprint.
Following that legal filing, Infantino skipped a scheduled appearance at a Hamptons gathering organized for New York financial executives.
Infantino’s privatization scheme — anchored by a $4.2 billion buyout led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital and advised by JPMorgan — collapsed after European governing body UEFA threatened an outright World Cup boycott. Kushner is the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner.
In an explosive letter exclusively obtained by The Post last week, European and North American soccer chiefs demanded Infantino immediately open FIFA’s staggering $6 billion cash reserves to compensate member associations for the promised windfalls that vanished when the privatization plan died.
The humiliating collapse of the deal triggered an open revolt inside Zurich. Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner and key adviser to the top technocrat, abruptly resigned in protest.
Days later, FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour publicly accused Infantino of a months-long “lie by omission” that kept staff, confederations, and clubs uninformed. He was sacked Aug. 17.
FIFA did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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