Infantino pokes fun at the British fans and their behaviour as he vociferously defends ticket prices for the World Cup.
Infantino jokes about British fans’ behaviour at World Cups and defends ticket prices.
During an address to world leaders on Thursday, Gianni Infantino made light of the actions of British football fans and justified the cost of tickets for this summer’s World Cup in North America.
Concerns over holding this summer’s finals in the US despite escalating internal unrest there were addressed by FIFA’s president, who told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that there had been “a lot of critics” before to Qatar 2022.
“When the ball started rolling and the magic started we had virtually no incidents. For the first time in history also, no Brit was arrested during a World Cup. Imagine! This is something really, really special,” he said.
“So it was a celebration, it was a party, and the next one in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be exactly the same. People want occasions to meet, to come together, to spend time, to celebrate, and this is what we try to give them.”
In response to the Fifa president’s comments, the Football Supporters’ Association said: “While we’ve got Mr Infantino‘s attention, we’d like to point out that rather than making cheap jokes about our fans, he should concentrate on making cheap tickets.”
Over 500 million tickets were requested during the most current application period, which concluded on January 13, according to Fifa. There was harsh criticism since just a small portion of the cheapest $40 category was available, and the second-cheapest category for the final cost $4,185 (£3,100).
“The tickets are not cheap,” he said. “We were hammered. I was hammered, I should say, because of the ticket prices, because they are so expensive. And the main critics were from Germany and England, of course. Now, No 1 in ticket requests is the US. No 2, Germany, No 3, England, because everyone wants to come and to participate.”
Infantino said reports that fans from certain countries could be denied visas to enter the United States were “not true”.
Spectators from Haiti, Iran and Senegal in particular are expected to struggle to be granted entry to the US, but Infantino said: “The United States, Canada and Mexico will welcome the world next summer, and this is what we are looking forward to.”