FIFA president Gianni Infantino tells critics to ‘chill’ following World Cup backlash
The World Cup kicks off tonight (11 June) but it’s already been an eventful one to say the least.
Officials have faced backlash as issues have arisen already, with the likes of Somalian referee Omar Artan being denied entry to the US and FIFA then confirming he would be removed from its roster.
Ian Wright has slammed it as a ‘World Cup of Chaos’ as travel becomes an issue for players, staff and fans – not to mention the high ticket prices.
And when FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke to press last night, he said critics need to ‘chill’.
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He dismissed criticisms of ticket prices and said he doesn’t ‘regret anything’ as he explained: “When we are confronted with challenges, we have to deal with them. Sometimes we can solve them and other times we cannot and we try just to make the best.”
Referencing some of these ‘challenges’, he spoke about Artan’s entry rejection as he said: “It was unfortunate what happened with the referee from Somalia.
“Again, we don't control everything. We try, we will discuss, we will speak, we will see. Sometimes it's good to chill, relax, we work on everything, we try to solve everything. “Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.
“Believe me when I tell you, we always try to find solutions. But we need to respect we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces. We are a sports organisation.”
A BBC reporter pushed Infantino on this remark about everyone just ‘chilling’ and the FIFA boss said: “In 2035 I think the Women’s World Cup will be in (the) 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.
“Our world is a very aggressive world and security goes above everything. You need to respect the decisions.”
He clarified that when he uses the word ‘chill’, he apparently doesn’t mean to ‘chill and do nothing’ but to trust FIFA.
“We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and find solutions. Sometimes we manage, sometimes we do not,” Infantino added.
The FIFA president says they want to ‘unite the world’ as he said it’s ‘fine’ to criticise him.
However, he made a request in the face of backlash: “But promote the unity of the World Cup, promote people coming to the World Cup, feeling those emotions that all of you have been feeling when you were children. I hope you can still feel them now because we want to unite the world.”
Jess Battison