FIFA’s Infantino defends World Cup ticket prices, says fans ‘should chill’ about ref denied US entry

The NBA Finals have had wildly varied get-in prices, ranging from a minimum of about $500 for the first two games in San Antonio to about $10,000 for Game 3 in New York. Game 4 in New York was much less, dropping to about $4,000 on Wednesday.

The Stanley Cup Final this year between teams in Las Vegas and Raleigh, North Carolina, has included a get-in price of at least $600 for each of the first four games of the best-of-seven series.

Infantino says FIFA is powerless to get US entry for denied Somali referee.

Infantino said it was “unfortunate” that Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the U.S. and said people “should chill.”

He said FIFA cannot dictate to governments who to let into their countries, though it is working “behind the scenes.”

“We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and to find solutions,” he said. “Sometimes we manage, other times not.”

“We don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth,” he said.

He thinks FIFA deserves credit for ensuring Iran’s participation.

Infantino praised FIFA for working through details that allow Iran to play in the tournament at a time the U.S. is at war with Iran. The Iranian team moved its training camp from the U.S. to Mexico and will fly to the U.S. before matches.

“I don’t know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances … Iran could come and play,” Infantino said.

Infantino claimed the tournament will be “the biggest event probably in the history of mankind.”

This press conference went smoother than Infantino’s opening comments in Qatar.

Four years ago, Infantino scolded critics during a news conference ahead of the opener in Qatar. He lectured Europeans for criticizing Qatar’s human rights record during a bizarre availability in which he claimed to feel gay, like a woman and a migrant worker, among other bizarre claims.

Now 50, Infantino has been FIFA’s president since 2010 and intends to seek another term next year that runs through 2031.

Infantino kept an empty seat at the news conference for Christophe Gleizes, a French freelance reporter given a seven-year prison sentence in Algeria last year over an interview with a soccer official accused of ties to a banned separatist movement.

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AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed.

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Carlos Rodriguez, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

FIFA’s Infantino defends World Cup ticket prices, says fans ‘should chill’ about ref denied US entry

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