FIFA President Gianni Infantino has finally broken his silence about the visa issues that football fans are facing and told the public to “chill and relax.”
The 56-year-old football administrator addressed the visa issues as football fans from all over the world try traveling to the World Cup co-host countries, United States, Canada and Mexico, to attend the matches of the global showdown and support their respective teams.
While answering a question about the Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was refused entry despite having a valid U.S. visa, Infantino said: “It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia. We try, we’ll discuss, we’ll see.”
He continued, “Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to chill, relax. We work for everything, we try to resolve everything.”
Speaking on the eve of the 2026 World Cup opener, Infantino said that FIFA was just a sports organisation that can not act like kings and “rule our governments and police forces.”
The tournament begins on June 11 and runs until July 19. The U.S. has been cracking down against illegal migrants since the U.S. President Donald Trump took office last year.
The administration defended its decision of not allowing Referee Omar to enter the U.S. saying he was denied entry because of his alleged “links to the members of a terror organisation.”
When asked if he regretted selecting the U.S. as one of the host nations due to visa issues, Infantino said: “I have no regrets.”
2026-06-11 23:31:00
