Gianni Infantino made a joke about British football fans’ behaviour while defending ticket prices for this summer’s World Cup in North America. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the Fifa president said: 'When the ball started rolling and the magic started we had virtually no incidents. For the first time in history also, no Brit was arrested during a World Cup. Imagine! This is something really, really special.'
The Football Supporters’ Association responded by saying: 'While we’ve got Mr Infantino‘s attention, we’d like to point out that rather than making cheap jokes about our fans, he should concentrate on making cheap tickets.' Infantino also addressed criticism of ticket costs, noting that the second-cheapest category for the final cost $4,185 (£3,100) and that only a tiny percentage were available at the cheapest $40 tier.
Infantino revealed that more than 500 million ticket requests had been received in the latest application window, with the United States top, followed by Germany and England. He claimed every match would be sold out and said Fifa’s resale platform would likely see tickets traded at even higher prices. 'In 100 years of World Cup history, Fifa has sold around 50 million tickets in total. For this World Cup, in these four weeks we have the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once,' he added.
On reports that fans from certain countries could be denied US visas, Infantino said they were 'not true', insisting: 'The United States, Canada and Mexico will welcome the world next summer.'
