Infantino provides chaos: three hours late at the FIFA Congress!

Infantino provides chaos: three hours late at the FIFA Congress!

Asunción, Paraguay - Gianni Infantino, the President of FIFA, caused excitement when he arrived with over three hours of delay on the congress of the 211 FIFA member associations in Asunción, Paraguay. His delay fell together with a controversial journey in the Middle East, in which he accompanied US President Donald Trump in official events in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Infantino apologized for the long waiting time of the delegates who had been waiting for his arrival. Hundreds of representatives, including Bernd Neuendorf, the President of the DFB, had to wait patiently for the FIFA president, who was only in Brazilian airspace at the beginning of the meeting.

FIFA originally had a congress start for 9:30 a.m. local time, but the actually starting delay was over three hours. Infantino justified his late arrival with "important discussions with leading politicians and business representatives" in the Middle East. The reason for the delay was given as a "small problem with our flight". A private pilot from Qatar Airways brought him to Paraguay after a stopover in Nigeria, but only landed an hour before the planned start of the meeting.

confusion and criticism

Norway's leader of the association Lise Klaveness was surprised by the absence of Infantinos and emphasized how important his presence was for the delegates. She critically noticed that no official information about Infantinos calendars was provided. This led to a tense mood among the delegates present, who prepared for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Infantino's absence was particularly remarkable because he could not take part in a planned dinner with the President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña. Peña finally kept his opening speech for several hours and praised Infantino as a "personal friend and friend of Paraguay".

the political dimension

The close relationship between Infantino, Trump and the Qatar Emir has proven to be strategically important. These connections seem to be decisive for FIFA, especially with regard to the upcoming World Championships. In 2022, Qatar was hosting the men's world championship, while Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. Infantino has emphasized that he had to take part in political meetings to make decisions in the interest of FIFA. This participation is not only a representative task, but is also intended to address important topics regarding future world championships.

Overall, this episode shows the challenges in front of which the FIFA president faces, while he perceives responsibilities at the political level and at the same time has to manage the expectations of the football community. FIFA announced that a council session planned for this week was postponed and held digitally in order to make the extent of the changes in the planning clear.