Arsene Wenger has plenty to offer football – he cannot do it in a FIFA strait jacket

Wenger is employed by Gianni Infantino’s office of strange works as its chief of global football development. When he left Arsenal in 2018, and was pursued by both Uefa and Fifa to assist them with technical matters, Wenger appeared to offer not only expertise and experience, he also possessed the integrity that Fifa, especially, could do with.

His Arsenal players would scrap and get booked, and he was a sore loser, but Wenger exuded values: togetherness, compassion, embracing diversity. As he wrote about Arsenal in My life and lessons in Red & White, Wenger argued that “as a club, we have an educational purpose: to give back to those people who love Arsenal so that they learn moral values from our game and how we behave”. Ultimately, Wenger’s teams were about expression, individually and collectively. They were about strong characters, strong voices, too, as we have heard from such open-minded people as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell, among others, down the years.

It would be interesting to know what such expressive individuals felt about Wenger discouraging self-expression. Wearing his Fifa hat, Wenger argued that “the teams who were mentally ready and [had] the mindset to focus on the competition and not on political demonstration” were the ones who prospered in the opening games of the World Cup here in Doha.

It was clear that he was referencing Germany, whose players put their hands over their mouths after they were stopped from wearing the OneLove armband.

But where’s the link between possessing a conscience and then playing badly? Some actually find it a motivation. The United States and Australia teams voiced their concerns about issues in Qatar and both qualified from their groups. England were angered by Fifa’s stance on armbands but still won their opening game 6-2 against Iran.

Surely a man raised on the border of France and Germany should have a more nuanced, thoughtful reaction to the image of German players covering their mouths to signal they objected to being silenced when wanting to speak out on discrimination?

It is sad seeing Wenger, celebrated in England for his influence on the game and also for his huge contribution to social initiatives, becoming a Fifa apparatchik. He’s better than this.

He’s campaigned for a World Cup every two years, diluting its quality, and causing complications for clubs that he would have railed against in his Arsenal days.

He is part of the governing body preparing for a World Cup expanded to 48 teams in 2026, arguing that “the countries have more opportunities to go to the world stage, it will do more for development inside that country”.

As a manager, Wenger was always about the elite, chasing trophies, being the creme de la creme. As a perfectionist club manager, Wenger would surely have disliked Fifa’s increasingly open-door policy to the World Cup.

It is patently political by Fifa, Infantino ensuring more associations’ support for his regime, and obviously financial, with more revenue guaranteed. Because of the mathematical gymnastics required of getting 48 teams towards a round of 16, the sporting jeopardy and integrity could be compromised.

Plus 48 looks to be a gateway to 64, increasing Fifa’s income and influence and, sadly, limiting the number of countries that can actually afford to host the World Cup. Next stops Saudi Arabia and China?

Wenger has been involved in some successes at Fifa: the semi-automated offside, for example, seems to be working. He has so much to offer football, so much wisdom, but not in a Fifa straitjacket.

Originally published as Arsene Wenger has plenty to offer football – he cannot do it in a FIFA strait jacket