Infantino tells Fifa critics to 'meditate, pray or watch football'

What the report says

BBC Sport reports that Fifa president Gianni Infantino used a 15-slide post on his personal Instagram account, later shared with Fifa’s wider audience, to answer critics of his leadership and of the World Cup. He urged opponents to “meditate, pray or watch a football match” rather than spread what he described as hostility and false claims, and portrayed the tournament as a unifying global event marked by happiness and safety.

According to the BBC, Infantino specifically defended the handling of Iran’s participation despite its conflict with co-hosts the United States. He said Fifa had helped bring the two countries together through football and said Iran entered without conflict. The report notes that this contrasted with comments from Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei, who called his team the most oppressed at the tournament, and cited visa delays, denied entry for some staff, ticket issues for fans and a relocated training base.

The BBC also highlighted wider scrutiny around travel restrictions affecting some supporters and officials, the presence of immigration enforcement at stadiums, arrests at matches and Fifa investigations into incidents involving Argentina after the final and alleged racist abuse toward American influencer IShowSpeed. Infantino rejected criticism that safety problems had marred the event, saying the competition was overwhelmingly peaceful.

Another major controversy involved officiating and discipline after USA forward Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban was suspended following intervention by President Donald Trump. Uefa criticised that decision, while Norway’s football federation is considering an ethics complaint. Infantino argued such disciplinary outcomes are common in major leagues. The International Olympic Committee, meanwhile, said it would not examine a political-neutrality complaint against him because it fell outside its ethics commission’s remit.