Infantino ‘chill’ over referee backlash and Iran World Cup promise | Football | Sport
Gianni Infantino has urged critics to “chill and relax” in response to the backlash FIFA have faced after Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry into America. The FIFA president spoke on several topics at a press conference on Wednesday which saw him reveal that he would have driven the Iranian national team bus from Tehran to the United States in order to get them to the World Cup.
It was his first public address in three years with Infantino discussing a number of controversial topics ahead of the tournament kicking off on Thursday. Iran was unsurprisingly one of those with their football federation already releasing several statements in addition to problems they faced with visas upon arriving in the United States.
On Iran, he said: “I’m very happy because I went to see myself the Iranian team in Turkey in March and people were saying it would be impossible for Iran to comet to the World Cup – I promised them that they would come and if I had to go with a bus to Tehran and drive them I would do that.”
While it is encouraging to see Iran at the tournament despite the continuing conflict in the Middle East, Somali official Omar Artan will not be taking part. He was barred from entering the country earlier this week, with a White House representative stating he was denied entry owing to an “association with suspected members of terror organizations.”
Infantino has now shared his views on the matter, with the 56-year-old making a peculiar assertion. He said: “The third point about the visas, we have heard and read a lot, we have been able to, in terms of the US, organise with the American administration the FIFA pass system.
“A speedy process which I’m told is working, maybe not working always with everyone. We have obtained that the bonds, payments which has to be made to some countries in Africa have been waived for those who are coming, we obtained it for the fans. Of course it is unfortunate what happened to Omar, the referee from Somalia, but again, we don’t control everything.
“We try, we will discuss, we will see. Maybe sometimes it is good to “chill”, relax, we work on everything. We try to solve everything. To immediately shout is the opposite to finding a solution, believe me or don’t, we always try to find solutions but we have to respect we aren’t kings of the world who can overrule administrations, the police, we are a sports organisation we try to do our best, we do as much as possible.
“I conclude, we want to unite the world and if I can ask you one thing, if you want to criticise me, criticise me, that’s fine. But promote the unity of the World Cup, feeling emotions of the World Cup when you were children and I hope you will feel them because we want to unite the world.”
