Though his job is ostensibly to manage world football’s governing body, you’d be forgiven for assuming International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) president Gianni Infantino earns his $4.6 million annual salary exclusively for saying ridiculous bullshit.

The Swiss administrator’s most recent eyebrow-raising remark saw him call Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Inter Miami “one of the best teams in the world.” This is less a reflection of his deep-rooted passion for US club football than a half-hearted attempt to justify his recent move to shoehorn Leo Messi’s team into the upcoming Club World Cup.

Infantino has pushed for an expanded, thirty-two-team tournament for years, and now that it’s finally happening in early 2025, he’s clearly willing to bend the rules to ensure it’s a success. Given Inter Miami’s early playoff exit means they aren’t even the best team in MLS, it’s hard to argue they’re one of the thirty-two best on the planet. But then again, even a vague attempt to find justifications for making up the rules as you go along actually improves on Infantino’s normal behavior.