FIFA President Gianni Infantino Talks About World Cup Issues

Gianni Infantino told critics to calm down after FIFA faced backlash for Somali referee Omar Artan being denied entry into the US. Infantino said he would have driven the Iranian team to the US to get them to the World Cup.

This was Infantino's first public talk in three years, where he discussed many sensitive topics before the tournament starts. Iran was one of the topics, and their football team had problems with visas when they arrived in the US.

Infantino said he visited the Iranian team in Turkey and promised they would come to the World Cup, even if he had to drive them from Tehran.

Iran is at the tournament despite Middle East conflicts, but Somali official Omar Artan will not be there. He was barred from entering the US due to ties with suspected terror group members.

Infantino shared his thoughts on the issue, saying FIFA worked with the US to create a visa system for the World Cup.

Infantino said the system is mostly working, and they got some African countries to waive fees for fans. He found it unfortunate that Omar, the Somali referee, was denied entry, but FIFA cannot control everything.

Infantino said they try to solve problems, and sometimes it's good to relax and not immediately react. He believes that FIFA should respect that they are not in charge of governments or police, but a sports organization trying to do its best.

Infantino ended by saying he wants to unite the world through the World Cup, and he hopes people will feel the same emotions they did as children. He asked critics to promote World Cup unity.

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