FIFA president Gianni Infantino has left the Women’s World Cup after less than a week – skipping four matchdays so far, Sky News has uncovered.
The early departure from the tournament – missing the last four days of matches – stands in stark contrast to the men’s World Cup in Qatar where he made a virtue of attending some of all 64 matches.
Mr Infantino himself had called for the Women’s World Cup to be shown the same respect as the men’s tournament when criticising broadcasters for not offering enough for television rights.
Sky News has tracked the movements of a private jet known to have been used by Mr Infantino, showing that it left Tahiti on 17 July, was in New Zealand for around eight days, before returning to Tahiti three days ago, on 25 July.
FIFA would not say when Mr Infantino is due back at the tournament which ends on 20 August.
The distances involved in Australia and New Zealand made it impossible for him to attend every match at FIFA’s biggest-ever women’s showpiece.
But Mr Infantino has not been to any matches in Australia – or even visited the country since it was awarded the hosting rights with New Zealand in 2020.
More on Fifa
Related Topics:
He was largely based in Qatar for more than a year building up to the men’s World Cup, which FIFA said was “in order to deliver his presidential duties and be closer to the FIFA World Cup”.
Image: Gianni Infantino, second from right, at the Philippines v Switzerland match in Dunedin, New Zealand, last Friday. Pic: AP
More of a distance has been kept by him from the Women’s World Cup build-up and event itself.
Advertisement
He only attended matches on the first five days of the tournament in New Zealand – starting with the opening game on 20 July and most recently at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday to see Italy beat Argentina and meet the family who bought the 1.5 millionth ticket.
Just last week in Auckland, Mr Infantino urged more fans to buy tickets, saying: “It’s never too late to do the right thing, come to watch the matches.”
During the 2022 men’s World Cup, Mr Infantino called it a “privilege and pleasure to attend all the 32 matches that have been played so far”.
He has repeatedly said this would be the “best-attended” Women’s World Cup but his own attendance record has fallen short despite making a virtue out of football’s need to treat the men’s and women’s World Cup equally – calling the 2023 event a “celebration of equality”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:56
Women’s World Cup viewing rights threatened
“It’s time to respect women,” he has repeatedly posted on Instagram in recent months, calling it a “slap in the face” broadcasters wouldn’t pay anything close to the fees for men’s World Cups.
“We just want that the (women’s) game is respected and that the right money is paid for that,” he said in May.
Mr Infantino’s Instagram account has continued to post official images from matches – obscuring the fact he left New Zealand on Tuesday.
Only after Sky News asked FIFA about Mr Infantino not being seen this week at the Women’s World Cup was a video posted showing him in Tahiti playing football with mostly men on an apparent visit to a member association while the flagship women’s football event continues without his presence.
He had written on Instagram that “this year is the year of women and the future belongs to women”.
He has seen only 12 of the 32 teams live so far at the first Women’s World Cup since the expansion from 24 finalists.
Mr Infantino has overseen a rise in the prize money and participation fund for the Women’s World Cup
For the first time there is guaranteed squad pay now – from $30,000 (£23,200) for players who exit in the group stage to $270,000 (£208,800) for each of the champions.
That is a significant boost for players. FIFA’s last published research showed the average global salary for female professional players is only $14,000 (£10,800) and many countries still lack professional women’s leagues.
FIFA told Sky Sports News Mr Infantino will return to the World Cup for group-stage games in Australia but has not responded to questions from Sky News about whether he is with any members of his family in Tahiti.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.