FIFA head Infantino kicks off first Israel visit with World Cup talk

• Author: URIEL STURM
• Published date: 12 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The 51-year-old Swiss–Italian global soccer czar was elected to the position in 2016 and was reelected in 2019. In 2020, Infantino was also elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Traveling to the Holy Land for the first time, Infantino was interviewed at Tuesday's conference by Israeli television host and sports broadcaster Sharon Davidovitch.

The talk began with consolatory words about the blue-and-white's 3-2 stoppage-time defeat by Scotland over the weekend in the qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which all but sealed Israel's fate of not participating in global soccer's prestigious quadrennial event for the first time since 1970.

"You see 1970 was the year I was born, so I think it was a good omen that Israel qualified then and I am here now," said Infantino. "I can officially report that I received a request from the Israel Football Association to change the rules and stop matches in 90th minute, maybe that would help.

"But seriously, there will be other chances soon enough."

Asked about the possibility of Israel ever hosting the World Cup, Infantino initially demurred, but then noted that "nothing is impossible. We need to think big. Today hosting a World Cup is a very, very big venture. It is more than a sports event. It's an event for which three-and-a-half to four million tickets are sold. More than a million visitors to the county and four billion people watching on television for the men's event and 1.2 billion watching the women's.

"You need to have visions, dreams and ambitions. We have been speaking a lot in recent months after the UAE and Israel signed their normalization agreement. So perhaps co-hosting is an option. The next World Cup after Qatar will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States – obviously three huge countries. So why not Israel? The World Cup is magical in that it brings people together, is such a uniting event and transcends every notion of negativity."

Speaking about Qatar, Infantino addressed the criticisms of the Arad nation being awarded the tournament.

"We are now 13 months before the next World Cup in Qatar. It is going to be a very different World Cup, very unique because it will have all venues within a very small amount of space – maybe 50 kilometers total. It will be like a child in Disneyland for soccer fans because you are getting all the best in one place – a great atmosphere, a great ambience. It will also be a chance for the world to meet a region that is often in...