UEFA unhappy as Gianni Infantino arrives late for FIFA congress

UEFA has accused Gianni Infantino of “putting football’s interests second” after he arrived late for the FIFA Congress.

FIFA president Infantino had been in the Middle East at events alongside United States president Donald Trump earlier in the week, and issues with his private jet forced a delay to the start of the Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay.

UEFA delegates, including its president Aleksander Ceferin and Football Association chair and FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt, staged a group protest by leaving at the interval, which had been the original start time.

Infantino apologised to delegates for his late arrival but European football’s leading administrators were deeply unimpressed, and said the FIFA president had been accommodating his own “private political interests” by attending events alongside Trump and Middle East leaders from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

“The last-minute changes to the timings of the FIFA Congress are deeply regrettable,” UEFA said in a statement.

“The FIFA Congress is one of the most important meetings in world football, where all the 211 nations in the world’s game gather to discuss issues that affect the sport right across the world.

“Our hosts, the Paraguay FA and our partners at CONMEBOL (the South American confederation), had gone to considerable effort to accommodate so many delegates and we thank them for their hospitality.

“But to have the timetable changed at the last minute for what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests, does the game no service and appears to put its interests second.

“We are all in post to serve football; from the streets to the podium, and UEFA members of the FIFA Council felt the need on this occasion to make a point that the game comes first and to leave as originally scheduled.”

Infantino opened the Congress with an apology to delegates for the “late kick-off time”.

“As president of FIFA, I decided to be for the last two of days in the Middle East, knowing that the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia, the 2022 World Cup was in Qatar and that the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States and the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

“Obviously some important discussions took place there with regards to the World Cup with some world leaders in politics and economy and I felt like I had to be there to represent all of you, to represent football.

“I thought I could make it on time but unfortunately we had a little issue with our flight, which caused this delay.”