A city of two stories this week: Vancouver.

World football’s dignitaries travelled to British Columbia this week to take in FIFA’s 76th annual Congress, and FIFA continued its trick of making friends everywhere it goes.

Indeed, a local news report claims that FIFA requested “level 4 motorcade escorts” during the glorified conference.

For reference, that’s a higher level of security than the Canadian Prime Minister enjoys (and level with the US president, which tells you something about where Gianni Infantino sees himself in the pecking order.)

Indeed, if FIFA’s 76th Congress was a drab, procedural affair then the only real takeaway is that, these days, this thing is all about Gianni.

The only notable elements of Infantino’s big address were his insistence that Iran will take part in the World Cup — despite failing to attend this congress, with Iranian reports that Canadian border patrol behaved inappropriately — and telling the 210 federations present they can look forward receiving more bounty next year with their projected revenues for the current four-year cycle up to $14bn.

That’s helpful that they’re receiving more money, considering they are also the people who will vote in the next elections! More on that in a bit.

Elsewhere, there was plenty of evidence off-stage in Vancouver of the world governing body’s growing mission creep.

Infantino appears to be on something of a personal crusade to rewrite many of the game’s laws ahead of the World Cup, and having leant on the official rulemaking body IFAB to permit the use of VAR to rule on corners earlier this year, there will be further late rule changes this summer.

As first reported by The Times on Tuesday, players who cover their mouths when confronting opponents or who leave the pitch in protest at a referee's decision will receive automatic red cards at the World Cup, a change confirmed at a specially convened IFAB meeting in Vancouver this week.

Significantly, IFAB have not mandated other organisations to enforce the rule change in all competitions, providing a strong indication that they are acting at FIFA’s behest.

 FootBiz has been told that Infantino in particular is determined to avoid the possibility of any refereeing controversies damaging the World Cup’s image, such as a repeat of the Vinicius Jr/Gianluca Prestianni incident from a Champions League tie in February or Senegal’s players leaving the field at the AFCON final the previous month, and wanted to introduce a strong deterrent. 

Other major stakeholders are less convinced however, so there is unlikely to be a wholesale adoption of the new protocol.

While Infantino’s views on refereeing controversies are well known, the FIFA Council’s decision to announce a consultation on a radical new plan to force clubs to have at least one homegrown under-21 player on the pitch at all times was a major surprise to all.

While UEFA has a "homegrown" rule, which requires eight players in a club's 25-man A squad list to be locally trained, it does not oblige managers to put any of them on the pitch. Some leagues, like Mexico, require a certain amount of minutes to be played during a season by U-21 players from that country, but FIFA’s proposal would arguably be the strongest yet.  

FIFA will now send these propositions to the confederations, national associations, leagues and players' organisations for feedback ahead of a discussion at Council later this year.

The proposed U-21 rule would have a major impact on many clubs with many already querying whether it would be legally permissible.

Aston Villa, Burnley, Brentford, Leeds, for example, haven’t had a single English U-21 player start any of their Premier League matches this season, while Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have included such a player in just one game, and Arsenal and Liverpool only two.

Given the number of fires FIFA are fighting elsewhere, it is unclear why they appear to have chosen to open a new conflict with the clubs.

Overall though, the new rules are just a sideshow.

This get-together of international football’s most powerful delegates was really about setting the table for Gianni Infantino to be once again elected, unopposed, next year.

“I am honored and humbled at the same time," said Infantino as he announced he will run for a fourth term (FIFA’s self-imposed limit to improve transparency and governance is three) and also that Morocco will host the 2027 FIFA Congress.

Morocco is a significant choice as it represents a snub to Europe, which had been expecting to host the event after a run of annual meetings in Canada, Paraguay, Thailand, Rwanda and Qatar.

The Moroccans are, of course, co-hosting the next World Cup so where better to be proclaimed president for another four years than with the backdrop afforded by Gianni’s latest powerful friend, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, and solidifying the African vote that, if we are honest, was already guaranteed.

Indeed, both the African and Asian confederations had come out in unanimous support of Infantino’s re-election before he had even announced his candidacy, which can only be explained by how strong a candidate he must be. Europe, to be frank, has been the most sceptical region of Infantino’s policies and leadership, and was clearly not deemed to be the right place to celebrate another term.

The push and pull between UEFA and FIFA had somewhat cooled this year as the presidents of global football’s two most powerful bodies (the EFC is included with UEFA as it’s impossible to know where one ends and the other begins) are both seeking re-election. Perhaps we are just in cold war territory rather than tanks on lawns now, but the general popularity of Infantino among his constituents outside Europe is unavoidable and undeniable.

UEFA and European football do have an undeniable gravity and it is one that affects the game everywhere in ways people might not imagine. Unintended consequences.

For example, while federation suits from around the world gathered in Vancouver to celebrate global football, this beautiful corner of Canada looks almost certain to lose its professional team.

Major League Soccer announced in November that from 2027 they will change their entire calendar, aligning with the European football season and leaving behind their current February to November timeline.

One of the consequences of this is the severe threat to football in Canada. A year after the World Cup is hosted north of the 49th parallel, the majority of its MLS franchises are being pushed to move to sunnier climes.

We have previously mentioned in FootBiz a plan to move Montreal’s team to Phoenix, Arizona, while yesterday news broke of the 30 year-old son of a billionaire from Kentucky bidding to buy the Vancouver Whitecaps and take them to Las Vegas.

The government of British Columbia is trying its hardest to work something out, but the team has been on sale for a few years now and the calendar switch only makes things more difficult.

And so it was that, at the end of another beautiful day in Vancouver, as FIFA delegates were whisked away in shiny cars with blacked out windows — albeit not in the highest level of motorcade — that a group of Whitecaps fans protested outside in a bid to “Save the Caps”.

Just months ahead of their first World Cup, the future of their team — and top-level football in Canada — is somehow incredibly uncertain.

The future of global football’s leadership couldn’t be moreso.

Less “Save the Caps” for Gianni, far more “Four More Years”.