Fifa president Gianni Infantino has clocked 50,000 km on a private jet during the World Cup group stages.
By Sam Kunti
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has called the World Cup group stages ‘crazy’ and ‘epic’. During the first round of the tournament, which ended on Saturday, 27 June, the football official’s carbon footprint had been just that – crazy and epic: Infantino racked up 50,000 kilometres – or flying more than once around the earth.
The Fifa president kicked off the World Cup with the opening game between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium. There, Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez, wearing sun glasses and swaying his hips and shoulders slightly from side to side, embraced the Fifa president, calling the tournament “a new football party”. South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan, under investigation for fraud at home, looked on, somewhat bewildered.
The closeness Infantino and Dominguez share is controversial. Last month, the New York Times reported that the South American football boss is facing an ethics complaint at Fifa for receiving payments recovered from FifaGate. In the wake of the 2015 scandal, the US Department of Justice awarded the world governing body 201 million dollars as a victim. That vicinity between Fifa officials and Dominguez is not unusual. At last month’s Champions League final in Budapest, Mattias Grafström, Fifa’s number two and general secretary, and the Conmebol president were cosy over lunch.
Dominguez is not the only controversial South American football boss at the World Cup. On 16 June, Infantino flew more than 2000 kilometres from Los Angeles, where he attended Iran – New Zealand, to Kansas City for Argentina – Algeria. There, Infantino was flanked by Argentinian football boss and Fifa council member Claudio Tapia, who will go on trial for tax evasion at home. Tapia even needed authorisation from Argentinian authorities to travel to the United States for the World Cup.
A few days later, on the sidelines of the Group C match Brazil – Haiti in Philadelphia, Infantino met with Brazilian FA (CBF) President Samir Xaud. The Fifa boss had flown in from Bedford, a small airport, handling private aircrafts, near Boston, where he watched Morocco defeat Scotland 1-0. Those 439 kilometres, as per flight data, were preceded by almost 4,000 kilometres on a jet from Vancouver where Switzerland played Qatar. Xaud came under pressure after he allegedly used CBF money to wine and dine his mistress at the World Cup.
Infantino’s carbon footprint comes courtesy of Qatar Airways which provides a private jet as a value-in-kind element of its sponsorship deal with Fifa. The aircraft belongs to Qatar Executive, a premium subsidiary of the airline.
Often attending two matches a day, the Fifa president has logged 50,000 kilometres in the group stages, heading 460 kilometres north of Mexico City to Guadalajara on the opening day to see South Korea win against the Czech Republic. From there, he flew 2100 kilometres to Los Angeles and, a day later, watched the USA’s 4-1 demolition of Paraguay alongside Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state. A short 496-kilometre haul got the football official to Qatar’s late draw with Switzerland in Santa Clara. He needed more than 1300 kilometres to make it to Australia – Turkey in Vancouver on 13 June before returning to Fifa’s Miami headquarters in a 4500-kilometre flight. There, he addressed the Fifa executive football summit before jetting 4387 kilometres back to the West Coast to take in Belgium – Egypt in Seattle on 15 June.
That same day, he jetted on, another 1500 kilometres, to the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where, amidst protests, Iran took on New Zealand in the most politicised match in recent World Cup history. Infantino briefly visited Iran’s dressing room before dashing off on a 2202-kilometre flight to Argentina – Algeria in Kansas City, followed by a 1000-kilometre haul for Portugal – DR Congo on 17 June in Houston, where he wore a cowboy hat. After clocking another near 1200 kilometres that same day, Infantino returned to Mexico City for Colombia – Uzbekistan before heading 3940 kilometres north to Vancouver to see Canada destroy Qatar 6-1 on 18 June. From there, he crossed the prairie again to the East Coast in Boston for Morocco’s 1-0 defeat of Scotland on 19 June, good for another 4000 kilometres.
The following day, at Brazil – Haiti in Philadelphia, Infantino found himself surrounded by Brazilian legends – Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo. They even played an impromptu rondo with the Fifa president. At Brazil’s final group game against Scotland, Ronaldo sat prominently behind Infantino and handed out autographs. The 2002 World Cup winner is a member of the Fifa legends programme. Headed up by Javier Ceppi, it’s designed to market Infantino as a people’s person. At Fifa Congresses, Infantino stages matches with former greats of the game.
All those legends just about stop short from proclaiming their love for Infantino. Their ‘love’ comes at a price however. A Fifa insider told Josimar that the legends programme in Qatar cost $5 million. Fifa failed to answer Josimar’s enquiry as to how much the world federation is paying for the 2026 World Cup legends programme.
Next on the itinerary was Netherlands – Sweden in Houston – clocking 2100 kilometres from Philadelphia.
Infantino loves jetting around
In the first weeks of his Fifa presidency, he took an EasyJet flight from Geneva to an IFAB meeting in the United Kingdom to signal that this was a new, more normal Fifa after the days of Sepp Blatter.
The PR stunt yielded exactly the kind of headlines FIFA wanted. “I always use the easiest and best option,” Infantino declared at the time. “We are completely normal people and we must behave like normal people.”
His words were far from the truth. Infantino, alongside Ángel María Villar and Dominguez, had initially demanded a private jet for the Bristol trip, but Fifa’s then-general secretary, Markus Kattner, balked at the request, invoking internal rules to block the expenditure. Kattner’s resistance proved short-lived; he exited Fifa soon after.
In 2017, The Mail on Sunday reported that an internal complaint had been triggered by a 2016 trip Infantino took to visit the Pope in Rome. The Fifa president had travelled on a private jet allegedly belonging to Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born Russian oligarch and former Arsenal shareholder. In doing so, Infantino bypassed Fifa’s compliance. That same year, a private charter from Suriname to Switzerland landed the Fifa president in more trouble, but ultimately, Swiss prosecutors dropped an investigation in 2023.
By then, Infantino was jetting around the world like there was no tomorrow. He defied the pandemic and ignored Fifa’s own climate commitments. Fifa is a signatory to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. The Framework includes a commitment to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2040.
Josimar calculated that from October 2021 to June 2024, the Fifa president flew, by conservative estimate, more than 600,000 kilometres on private jets from Qatar Executive. From July 2023 to June 2024, Infantino clocked up more than 320,000 kilometres, the equivalent of flying around the world eight times. It was his jetting off from the 2023 Women’s World Cup to tour the Pacific, one of the most climate-vulnerable regions, in order to consolidate his power base that drew the most scorn.
He flew to Tahiti (twice), New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa and the Cook Islands. He amassed more than 40,000 kilometres. Stung by the criticism, Infantino responded on Instagram: “Chill, relax, live and let live!”
It’s a line he also rolled out on the eve of the 2026 World Cup. Infantino’s airmiles have already exceeded those of his 2023 Pacific Tour. He wrapped up his first round with a sprint. He attended France – Iraq in Philadelphia, almost arrived late for Norway – Senegal in New Jersey, took in Ghana – England in Boston, watched Panama – Croatia in Toronto and headed for Brazil – Scotland in Miami. Good for another 6380 kilometres in the air.
Of course, this was still not enough. He logged another 1786 kilometres to visit Jordan and its FA president, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, once his opponent at the 2016 Fifa elections, in Dallas. Another 2692 kilometres and Infantino sat through the ‘pride game’, Iran – Egypt, in Seattle before returning to Miami – another 4387 kilometres – to watch Cristiano Ronaldo take on Colombia. Marco Rubio and FBI director Kash Patel joined in.
Fifa did not reply to Josimar’s questions.
