FIFA Boss Gianni Infantino Fires Bizarre Dig at British Fans Ahead of World Cup
FIFA president Gianni Infantino fired an apparent dig at British football fans during an appearance at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting.
Infantino, who is leading preparations for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by United States, Canada and Mexico, appeared as part of a FIFA panel at the WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
FIFA's chief of global football development, Arsene Wenger, and former Juventus and Italy striker Alessandro Del Piero were sat alongside him.
Infantino's presence at the event coincides with growing tensions around the staging of the 2026 World Cup in the US.
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US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to take over Greenland, which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, despite opposition from European leaders.
That tension appears to have largely dissipated after Trump announced he had agreed to form 'the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, indeed, the entire Arctic region' following talks with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte on Wednesday.
The two FIFA panel segments lasted for around half an hour each - with three separate speeches from Infantino taking place at either side of those segments.
At one stage, Infantino captured the essence of his speech by holding a FIFA-branded football in the air and explaining: "This is not a ball. Let me show you... this is a magic instrument that transforms people into happy people."
Speaking to the crowd, he said: "Give the ball around a little bit, to the crowd, and you will see it transforms people into happy people. This is what this strange instrument does.
"The children's faces become happy. The adults become children. They start playing, passing the ball... look, the smiles all over the room. This is fantastic, this is beautiful."
During his opening individual speech, meanwhile, Infantino appeared to aim a dig at British fans when discussing the upcoming World Cup.
"Qatar in 2022, there were a lot of critics, of course," he began. "We had virtually no incidents.
"For the first time in history, also, no Brit was arrested during the World Cup. Imagine! This is something really, really special.
"It was a celebration, it was a party. And the next one, in the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be exactly the same.
"Of course, we live in a divided world, and of course we support peace. We all have to support peace, we all have to unite. And we bring people together."
He then took aim at German and English media outlets for their criticism of his World Cup ticket pricing structure.
The English Football Supporters' Association (FSA) described the prices as a 'laughable insult' to supporters last year, with the cheapest final ticket coming in at £3,120.
"For the World Cup, we have seven million tickets for sale," Infantino stated. "The number of ticket requests we've received ... normally, you get maybe three million tickets. This time it was seven million, because we have bigger stadiums.
"Normally, you get seven, eight, nine million ticket requests. This time, we received 500 million ticket requests. This is something... the tickets are not cheap.
"We were hammered, I was hammered, because of the ticket prices, because they are so expensive. The main critics were from Germany and England.
"Now, number one in ticket requests was the US. Number two, Germany. Number three, England. Because everyone wants to come and participate."
Fans from four nations - Iran, Haiti, Senegal and Ivory Coast - will be unable to watch their team play in the World Cup as their country is on a full or partial travel ban imposed by the Trump administration.
Topics: Gianni Infantino, FIFA, England, FIFA World Cup, Football, US Sports
Ryan Smart