Fifa’s Gianni Infantino says fans should ‘chill’ after World Cup referee denied entry to US

Fifa President Gianni Infantino used his launch press conference for the World Cup on Wednesday to defend ticket prices and urge people to “chill” after a Somali referee was denied entry to the US. The 2026 World Cup will begin on Thursday, with the US, Canada and Mexico serving as co-hosts. Many issues have already plagued the tournament, with Iran’s presence previously in doubt – amid the nation’s ongoing conflict with the US – and referee Omar Artan sent home this week after the Trump administration alleged he had links to “suspected members of terror organisations”. Addressing the latter matter on Wednesday, Infantino urged fans to “chill, relax”, insisting that the football governing body is constantly working on solving every issue that the competition has faced. He also defended World Cup ticket prices, saying: “If we are doing something wrong, everyone in North America is doing something wrong.” Fifa priced tickets starting at $140 for the 48-nation, 104-game tournament that starts Thursday and priced regular seats up to $8,680 for the 19 July final in New Jersey . It raised prices for the final to $10,990 and then $32,970. After criticism, Fifa offered a small amount of $60 tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. Infantino said the average ticket price was under $500 for the tournament and was comparable to other US sports during their play-offs, a claim that – while true for resale prices – does not appear to be accurate for list prices. He said he was unconcerned about investigations by attorneys general in California , New Jersey, New York and Texas. Infantino said that the secondary ticket market is beyond his organisation’s control when it comes to the large prices fans are seeing for World Cup games. He pointed to the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs as an example of how other major American sporting events are experiencing a similar surge in prices. “We are very relaxed about it because, before starting to sell 6.5m or 7m tickets, we checked what we do with the best lawyers, the best experts” he said. “We welcome every investigation.” Infantino also admitted Fifa was powerless to get the US to admit entry to referee Artan and said people “should chill”. “We are not the kings of the world,” Infantino said. Additional reporting by AP .