On the eve of a soccer World Cup that has been churned by controversies, negative headlines and complaints, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said on Wednesday that he had no regrets.
Mr. Infantino, in Mexico City ahead of the opening game for the biggest tournament in the World Cup’s nearly 100-year history, struck a defiant tone as he took aim at critics who have attacked FIFA over how it has dealt with issues like record ticket prices, visa restrictions and the fate of Iran’s soccer team.
The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are investigating FIFA over its ticket pricing policy and whether fans making purchases were deceived by the soccer body. Mr. Infantino said he was “relaxed” because FIFA had consulted lawyers and experts before selling the tickets, which cost as much as 10 times what they cost in the previous World Cup. “If we’ve done something wrong, probably everybody in North America is selling tickets wrong as well,” he said at a news conference.
Mr. Infantino, who earns around $6 million in salary, noted that FIFA invests most of its income in soccer development around the world.
In recent days, a referee from Somalia chosen to officiate at the World Cup was denied entry into the United States. He was held for several hours before being sent back to Turkey, where he had boarded a flight to Miami. Mr. Infantino said that he sympathized with the official, Omar Artan, who returned to a hero’s reception in Somalia, but added that critics should “chill, relax.” FIFA was trying its best, he said, but “we don’t control everything.”
Mr. Artan’s ejection from the United States had drawn scrutiny on FIFA and Mr. Infantino, who has made several comments about entry into the United States not being a problem.
The World Cup begins with the United States still at war with Iran, the first time a World Cup host has been in conflict with one of the participants. That has led to months of uncertainty, with the Iran team finally receiving visas to play its three games in the United States within the last 10 days. More than a dozen staff members and officials were denied entry and the team was forced to relocate its base from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, a city on Mexico’s border with California.
Mr. Infantino praised his own organization, suggesting that no other body would have been able to secure the team’s participation. He promised the Iranians, he said, that he would have driven them in a bus from Tehran to the World Cup if that were required for the team to play.
