FIFA president Gianni Infantino has stunningly told the public to ‘chill’ in relation to the backlash of a Somalian referee who was kicked out of the US ahead of the World Cup.
Acclaimed as the ‘best referee in Africa’, Omar Abdulkadir Artan was dropped from the upcoming showpiece – which begins on Thursday – as he has similar name to a man with links to a terrorist organization backed by al Qaida.
The Trump administration later claimed he was turned away due to ‘terrorism fears’ in a shocking turn of events that has caused a major outcry and support for the referee who expressed his bitter disappointment at the rejection.
Artan, 34, said the decision had shattered his ‘biggest dream’ of officiating at a World Cup.
Speaking on Wednesday about the incident, Infantino described it as ‘unfortunate’ but told people to ‘chill’ and ‘relax’.
‘It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia,’ he told media on the eve of the World Cup.
‘Again, we don’t control everything. We try, we will discuss, we will speak, we will see.
‘Sometimes it’s good to chill, relax, we work on everything, we try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.
‘Believe me when I tell you, we always try to find solutions. But we need to respect we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces. We are a sports organisation.’
Artan was put on a flight to Turkey and then back home to Somalia where he was greeted with plenty of fanfare this week.
He was filmed stepping off the plane and being mobbed by well-wishers and dignitaries, shaking hands and smiling broadly.
The referee then posed for photos while holding up the Somalian flag in a show of national pride and defiance.
His exclusion from the World Cup has been a major talking point ahead of the tournament kicking off on Thursday.
Speaking to the New York Times , Artan insisted he was ‘very disappointed’ in the decision, adding: ‘I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa.’
As well as discussing Artan, Infantino 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 (£104) for the 48-nation, 104-game tournament that starts on Thursday and priced regular seats up to $8,680 (£6,474) for the July 19 final in New Jersey. It raised prices for the final to $10,990 (£8,197) and then $32,970 (£24,591). After criticism, FIFA offered a small amount of $60 (£45) tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. He said Wednesday 130,000 tickets were offered at that price, out of six-seven million total.
Infantino said the average ticket price was under $500 (£373) 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.
‘We are very relaxed about it because before starting to sell six-and-a-half million or seven million tickets we check what we do with the best lawyers,’ he said. ‘We welcome every investigation.’
The NBA Finals have had wildly varied get-in prices, ranging from a minimum of about $500 (£373) for the first two games in San Antonio to about $10,000 (£7,459) for Game 3 in New York. Game 4 in New York was much less, dropping to about $4,000 (£2,983) 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 (£447.51) for each of the first four games of the best-of-seven series.
