FIFA’s Infantino flew not less than 59K miles and 115 hours for the World Cup

Multiple flights in a single day. Nearly 60,000 miles. More than 100 hours aloft.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino acquired some critical air time over the course of the 2026 World Cup, the match’s most far-flung version ever. He crisscrossed North America for matches, conferences and different appearances in the course of the competitors, which occurred in three international locations, 16 cities and 4 time zones, and ends with Sunday’s remaining in New Jersey.

To observe his travels, The Associated Press analyzed flight logs for a non-public enterprise jet utilized by Infantino in recent times, together with pictures taken by AP photographers and pictures posted on Instagram by FIFA and the pinnacle of world soccer’s governing physique himself. The evaluation reveals that by the point both Argentina or Spain emerges as champion, he can have flown far sufficient to circle the planet nearly 2 1/2 occasions.

Access to a Gulfstream G650 jet from the fleet of the Qatari authorities made Infantino’s prodigious jet-setting potential. The plane is operated by the non-public constitution division of Qatar Airways, a World Cup sponsor.

Since a June 9 flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City forward of the match’s opening match, the plane averaged multiple flight a day and on a number of days made greater than three, based on flight-tracking web site FlightAware.

Along with attending matches, Infantino’s itinerary included stops in New York for an interview on Fox & Friends and in Miami for a FIFA summit attended by representatives from the group’s 211 member associations. He additionally flew to Doha to attend the funeral of Qatar’s former emir earlier than returning to the U.S. in time for the World Cup semifinals.

FIFA didn’t reply to an emailed request for remark about Infantino’s journey schedule and preparations.

Here’s a take a look at a few of the numbers racked up by the individual overseeing the match that may have featured a file 104 matches unfold throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, the biggest geographic footprint in World Cup historical past.

43 matches

The variety of World Cup matches Infantino attended earlier than Sunday. FlightAware confirmed the Gulfstream initially was scheduled to fly from New Jersey to Miami in time for the third-place match between England and France however by no means took off. Thunderstorms prompted flight delays at New York City space airports on Saturday, based on the Federal Aviation Administration.

16 stadiums

Infantino noticed not less than one match in any respect 16 World Cup venues. Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, the place he attended 5 video games, is the venue he visited essentially the most.

13

The variety of days Infantino attended two matches, usually at stadiums situated a whole bunch of miles aside.

21 airports

The Gulfstream principally used the host cities’ principal worldwide airports in the course of the match however typically relied on smaller normal and enterprise aviation airports, together with Atlanta’s Fulton County Executive Airport and Miami’s Opa Locka Executive Airport.

23

The variety of worldwide border crossings the jet made inside North America by the semifinals.

115 flight hours

The flight time the Gulfstream amassed in the course of the match, not together with repositioning flights and 29 hours of journey for the funeral in Qatar, equals practically 5 full days within the air and can be sufficient for a business aircraft touring at typical cruising velocity to fly from New York to Los Angeles 20 occasions.

5 hours and 44 minutes

Excluding the journey to Qatar, the flight that took the longest lasted 344 minutes and went from Miami to Seattle, the place Infantino attended the Belgium-Egypt match on June 15. The flight time is identical size as three full World Cup matches from kickoff to remaining whistle.

28 minutes

The shortest flight time, excluding repositioning flights, was a 28-minute hop from Seattle to Vancouver on July 6 — in regards to the size of a community TV sitcom like “Friends” with commercials. Infantino attended the United States-Belgium match in Seattle that day earlier than watching Switzerland face Colombia in Vancouver the next day.

59,281 miles (95,403 kilometers)

The distance the jet traveled in the course of the match, excluding the journey to Qatar and again for the funeral, based on the AP evaluation. That’s greater than round-trip flights between New York and Singapore, Los Angeles and Doha, Qatar, and London and the Australian metropolis of Perth mixed.

5,772 miles (9,289 kilometers)

The most miles coated in a single day’s itinerary have been on June 26, which began with a morning flight from Miami to Dallas. From there, the aircraft went to Seattle, the place Infantino attended the Egypt-Iran match. The remaining leg departed Seattle late that evening and landed the following morning in Miami. Infantino watched Colombia face Portugal there.

50%

FIFA has pledged to scale back carbon emissions from the World Cup and associated actions by half by 2030 and has dedicated to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. The group’s 2026 World Cup sustainability and human rights technique says it’s dedicated to addressing local weather change.

Climate researchers and environmental teams have argued that the expanded, three-country match was more likely to produce essentially the most atmosphere-polluting greenhouse gases of any World Cup emissions and be essentially the most carbon-intensive World Cup ever due to the intensive air journey required for groups, followers and officers.

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Associated Press journalist Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Switzerland contributed to this report.