FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated that the entity does not have the power to determine who the United States government should allow to enter the country for the 2026 World Cup. According to him, at times it is better to “relax” in the face of visa issues.
“Believe me when I say, or don’t believe me if you don’t want to, but we always try to find solutions, always,” he said during a pre-World Cup press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday. “But we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can command governments, police forces and I don’t know what else. We are a sports organization, we try to do our best with the means we have.”
Infantino cited the specific case of Omar Artan, who would be the first Somali referee to serve in a World Cup after being on FIFA’s final list for the tournament, but was denied entry into the United States after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul.
A US official reported late on Tuesday that Artan was denied entry for “association with suspected members of terrorist organizations.”
“It’s unfortunate what happened to Omar, the Somali referee, but once again, we don’t control everything,” Infantino said. “We try, let’s discuss, let’s see. Sometimes it’s also good to relax. We work on everything, we try to resolve everything.”
“Sometimes immediately starting to scream and yell has the opposite effect in terms of finding a solution. We always try to find solutions, always. But we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule governments and police forces.”
Infantino was later pressed to clarify his statements and highlighted his success in securing visas for Iran’s squad for the tournament, despite the ongoing conflict with the United States.
“I don’t mean sit back and do nothing, I mean trust that we’re working behind the scenes, trying to figure it out,” he said. “There are things they tell us, things they don’t tell us. We always try to make things positive and find a solution.”
“We managed to bring Iran to play in America, I don’t know who would have managed to do that… we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth and we tried our best.”
Despite ongoing visa issues, which included the relocation of the Iranian national team’s training base to Tijuana, Mexico, and denial of entry to Artan, Infantino insisted he has no regrets about choosing the United States to host the 2026 World Cup.
Infantino added that the organization is taking a similar “relaxed” approach to ongoing investigations into World Cup ticket prices. There are cases currently filed by the attorneys general of California, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
“Let me say that we are very calm about this because before we started selling 7 million tickets, we checked what we would do with the best lawyers or experts,” Infantino said.
“In California, we sold 800,000 tickets to the games in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Of the 800,000, we had three customers who complained. The fourth has since come forward. Those cases were resolved before the investigations began. We welcome any investigation. We will come forward and defend our case. But the most important thing is that every dollar we generate goes back into football.”
FIFA has priced tickets starting at $140 for the summer tournament, with certain regular seats going as high as $8,680 for the July 19 final in New Jersey. After heavy criticism, the entity released a number of US$60 tickets for national federations aimed at fans.
Infantino said the average ticket price was under $500 for the tournament, which would be comparable to other U.S. sports during the playoffs — a true statement for resale prices, but one that doesn’t seem accurate for list prices.
The World Cup, which also hosts Canada and Mexico, will begin this Thursday at the Azteca Stadium, with the game between Mexico and South Africa.