FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the rejection of a Somali referee and visa challenges affecting the World Cup, urging people to 'chill' and trust the organization's efforts. He defended ticket pricing and explained the balance between revenue and accessibility, citing potential black market issues. Infantino also discussed FIFA's limitations in controlling government decisions regarding entry into host countries.
Gianni Infantino described the rejection of a Somali referee as "unfortunate" and asked people to trust that the organisation is doing its best to tackle the situationThe president of FIFA has asked people to “chill” and trust that the organisation was making every effort to tackle the visa challenges affecting the World Cup .the competition’s opening game in Mexico City, “Again, we don’t control everything.
We tried to discuss, we spoke. Sometimes it’s good as well just to chill, relax.
“We try to solve everything, screaming and shouting, that’s the opposite of finding a solution. “We try always to find solutions we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments, police forces. We are an organisation with the means we have to make as much as possible. ”The BBC pushed him on his comment about “chilling”, with Infantino adding: “In 2035 I think the Women’s World Cup will be in UK.
“Would you find it normal that FIFA would dictate to the British Government who to let in the country and who not to let in the country? I don’t know, maybe you find it normal.
“We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and find solutions. Sometimes we manage, sometimes we do not. ” Infantino clearly expected questions around the price of tickets to come up and spoke at length about it in his opening remarks. He defended the entry price of 60 US dollars – which he said covered 130,000 tickets out of around 6.5 million on sale – saying that compared favourably with American sports at the play-off phase.
He added: “If we were like everyone else in football is now, selling our TV rights on pay TV like everyone else, then billions of people wouldn’t have access.
“We will generate four times more revenues and we will give the tickets probably for free. They will still enter the black market and the secondary market and be sold for thousands of dollars. We have to strike a balance.
“It is my statutory responsibility to generate the income which allows FIFA to invest in all of these countries. ”FIFA has faced negative headlines around Iran this week, with some of its federation officials denied US visas and the federation claiming FIFA had revoked an allocation of tickets given to it for its matches, which start with a game against New Zealand in Los Angeles on Monday.
Infantino hailed FIFA’s work in getting Iran to play in the finals, which seemed unlikely in the extreme after the US and Israel began bombing Iran in February and “I don’t know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances,” he said. He recalled a visit to see Iran play in Turkey in March, and added: “I promised them they would come, and if I had to go with a bus to Tehran, I would do that. ”
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