‘Chill and relax! Infantino breaks silence on Somali referee’s visa controversy
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the organisation’s handling of visa-related challenges ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, stressing that football’s governing body cannot influence the immigration decisions of sovereign governments.
Addressing journalists in Mexico City on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, amid rising calls for his resignation, Infantino said FIFA continues to work tirelessly to resolve issues affecting participants and officials but acknowledged that there are limits to the organisation’s authority.
Omar Artan’s situation
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“Believe me when I tell you, or don’t believe me if you don’t want, but we try always to find solutions, always,” he said.
The FIFA chief emphasised that while the organisation seeks positive outcomes, it cannot override national policies or law enforcement decisions.
“But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces and I don’t know what. We are a sports organisation; we try to do our best with the means that we have.”
His comments come amid growing debate over visa complications involving several World Cup participants. One of the most notable cases concerns Somali referee Omar Artan, who had been selected to officiate at the tournament and would have become the first referee from Somalia to work at a World Cup. However, he was denied entry to the United States upon arrival in Miami from Istanbul.
According to a U.S. official, Artan’s admission was rejected because of an alleged “association with suspected members of terror organisations.”
Reacting to the situation, Infantino expressed sympathy but reiterated that FIFA cannot control every aspect of tournament logistics.
“It is unfortunate what happened to Omar, the referee from Somalia, but again we don’t control everything,” Infantino said.
“We try, we’ll discuss, we’ll see. Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to chill, relax. We work on everything, we try to resolve everything.”
Solving complicated matters
The FIFA president argued that public outrage does not always help solve complicated matters.
“Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect in terms of finding a solution. We always try to find solutions, always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces.”
After facing questions about his call for calm, Infantino clarified that he was not suggesting inaction but rather confidence in FIFA’s behind-the-scenes efforts.
“I don’t mean to chill and do nothing, I mean to trust us that we are working behind the scenes, trying to understand,” he explained.
“There are things we are told, things we are not told. We always try to make things positive and find a solution.”
Iran’s stalemate
Infantino pointed to FIFA’s success in ensuring the participation of the Iran national football team despite political tensions between Iran and the United States.
“It has been successful to bring Iran to play in America, I don’t know who would’ve managed to do that … we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth and we try our best.”
Despite the complications that have forced Iran to establish its training camp in Tijuana, Mexico, and the controversy surrounding Artan’s denied entry, Infantino maintained that FIFA has no regrets about selecting the United States as one of the tournament hosts.
The FIFA president also addressed ongoing investigations into World Cup ticket pricing, saying the organisation remains confident that its sales processes comply with regulations.
“Let me say that we are very relaxed about it because before starting to sell 7 million tickets, we checked what we would do with the best lawyers or experts,” Infantino said.
He noted that only a handful of complaints had emerged from hundreds of thousands of ticket sales in California. Infantino further argued that the average ticket price for the competition remains below $500, comparing it with pricing trends seen in major American sports postseason events.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by United States, Canada and Mexico, is scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at Estadio Azteca, where Mexico national football team will face South Africa national football team in the opening match.
