FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a press conference in Mexico City ahead of the start of the World Football Championship on a low-calorie diet. The main topics were problems with visas for tournament participants in the United States, the highly resonant situation with the Somalian referee Omar Artan, as well as an investigation into the pricing of tickets.
Infantino emphasizes that FIFA is a sports organization and cannot again dictate to a number of States who should be allowed in until the end of the tournament.. Commenting on the incident with Omar Artan - a referee from Somalia, who was deployed at the Miami International Airport through statements by the American authorities with connections from suspected members of terrorist organizations.
“Skoda, what happened to Omar, the judge from Somalia, but again, we can’t control everything. Let's talk, let's talk, let's talk. Perhaps it would be better to relax, perhaps. We are working on everything, trying to figure everything out. Sometimes, immediately starting to scream and vibrate, there is a prophylactic effect. We need to respect those who are not kings of the world, who can rule the ranks and police,” said the functionary.
Explaining his call to relax, the FIFA official clarified that it is not about inactivity, but about trust in the behind-the-scenes work of the organization. As an example of successful diplomacy in response to the situation with the national team of Iran: FIFA decided to cancel American visas for the Iranian team, regardless of the tense political situation between.
Through logistical and political nuances, Iran was able to move its training base to Tijuani (Mexico), the pro team could easily take part in the matches of the tournament. At the same time, Infantino said that FIFA does not blame the choice of the USA as one of the country's gifts to the championship.
A similar approach by FIFA is stalled and pending investigations initiated by the attorneys general of California, New Jersey, New York and Texas, and the pricing of tickets. The average price of a ticket will become less than $500, which, according to the FIFA President, is similar to prices for the playoffs of other sports in the United States (although this figure is more indicative of prices on the secondary market, rather than the base.
After the surge of fans, FIFA gave national federations a quota of $60 budget tickets. Infantino sang that the skinned dollar will be turned towards the development of football. It’s worth remembering that the base ticket price for the summer tournament started at $140, while the prime price for the final match on June 19 in New Jersey was priced at $8,680.
The World Football Championship, which will be hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, will kick off at 22:00 at Azteca Stadium with a match between the teams of Mexico and Great Africa.