On the eve of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the most ambitious and logistically complex football tournament in history, co-hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico — FIFA President Gianni Infantino held a wide-ranging and at times remarkable 66-minute press conference in Mexico City, where his choice of words on the tournament's most contentious pre-tournament controversy immediately became the story itself. Asked about the mounting visa-related issues threatening to overshadow the World Cup's opening days, Infantino told reporters — and by extension, a global football audience — that sometimes it is simply better to "chill and relax."
The comments have generated an immediate and intense reaction from across the football world, media community, and diplomatic circles — drawing criticism from those who view them as a dismissive response to a serious failure of governance, and cautious support from those who argue Infantino is correctly acknowledging the limits of FIFA's authority over sovereign government immigration decisions.
The Omar Artan Case: The Incident That Sparked the Controversy
The immediate trigger for the visa controversy that dominated Infantino's pre-tournament press conference was the shocking and deeply unfortunate case of Omar Artan — a referee who had been set to make history as the first official from Somalia to referee at a FIFA World Cup, having earned selection to FIFA's final referee list for the tournament after years of dedicated work to reach the sport's highest stage.
Artan was refused entry to the United States. Somalia is one of the countries on the US travel ban, but Artan believed he had a valid visa to enter the country. Despite what he understood to be valid documentation, Artan was turned away at the US border and was subsequently confirmed by FIFA to not be competing in the tournament — a deeply disappointing conclusion that drew widespread criticism from football governing bodies, players, coaches, and human rights advocates around the world.
The decision to ban Artan from the USA has been met with widespread criticism. For many in football, the case represents not merely a bureaucratic failure but a fundamental fairness and inclusivity issue at the heart of what is supposed to be the world's most universal sporting celebration — a tournament that prides itself on the value of bringing together all nations and cultures.
For comprehensive and authoritative coverage of all developments surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup visa controversy, Omar Artan's case, and Infantino's full press conference remarks, Sky Sports has provided detailed and continuously updated reporting on every dimension of the pre-World Cup controversy.
Infantino's Exact Words: What He Said and What He Meant
Addressing the Artan case and broader visa concerns directly during his Mexico City press conference, Infantino's comments were notable for both their candor and their tone. "It was unfortunate what happened with the referee from Somalia. Again, we don't control everything. We tried to discuss, we spoke. Sometimes it's good as well just to chill, relax. We try to solve everything, but screaming and shouting, that's the opposite of finding a solution," Infantino told reporters.
When the BBC pushed him specifically on what he meant by the "chilling" comment, Infantino offered a more detailed and contextual clarification. "When I say 'chill', I don't mean 'chill and do nothing', I mean to trust us. We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and find solutions. Sometimes we manage, sometimes we do not," he said.
Infantino also used the hypothetical of a future UK-hosted Women's World Cup to make his broader point about FIFA's limited authority over national immigration decisions. "In 2035 I think the Women's World Cup will be in the UK. Would you find it normal that FIFA would dictate to the British Government who to let in the country and who not to let in the country? Our world is a very aggressive world, and security goes above everything. You need to respect the decisions," Infantino argued.
He also said during the press conference: "But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces and I don't know what. We are a sports organization, we try to do our best with the means that we have."
The Iran Dimension: Training Base Moved to Tijuana
The Artan case is not the only visa-related controversy threatening to overshadow the 2026 World Cup's opening. The participation of the Iran national football team — amid the active and escalating US-Iran military conflict — has created an entirely separate and uniquely complex set of visa and logistical challenges that have required remarkable diplomatic gymnastics to manage.
Ongoing visa-related issues included relocating the Iran national team's training base to Tijuana, Mexico — a practical workaround that allows the Iranian squad to train in close proximity to their US-based group stage games while avoiding the immigration complications of establishing a primary base on American soil given the current state of US-Iran relations.
The visa denials come in the context of President Donald Trump's executive order establishing travel restrictions for citizens of 12 countries, including Iran. The order includes exemptions for "any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State."
Infantino insisted he does not regret choosing the United States as a host country of the 2026 World Cup, saying: "It has been successful to bring Iran to play in America, I don't know who would've managed to do that." It is a point that deserves genuine acknowledgment — getting Iran and the US to share the same tournament soil, even amid open military hostilities, represents a genuinely remarkable diplomatic achievement, even if the execution has been far from seamless.
The FIFA Pass System: What Was Promised
The visa difficulties that have emerged in the pre-tournament period are particularly striking given that FIFA and the US government had previously announced a dedicated system specifically designed to facilitate World Cup visitor entry. The FIFA Prioritised Appointment Scheduling System — or FIFA Pass — announced by US President Donald Trump, went live to allow World Cup ticket holders to access priority visa appointments for travel to the United States. It was introduced in part because citizens of some countries whose teams had qualified may not otherwise receive visa appointments in time for the tournament.
The existence of the FIFA Pass makes the Artan case particularly difficult to explain or defend — if a dedicated, government-backed priority system exists for World Cup participants, how did an officially listed FIFA match official end up being turned away at the border? The question remains unanswered and is one that critics argue demands more than a call to "chill and relax."
Critical Reactions: Is "Chill" Good Enough?
Infantino's "chill and relax" framing has drawn pointed and sustained criticism from across the football community. Critics argue that for a man who awarded US President Donald Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 World Cup draw in December — a decision that itself generated significant controversy — telling the world to trust FIFA while a Black African match official is turned away from the world's biggest sporting event represents a profound and troubling failure of institutional responsibility and moral leadership.
For many observers, the fundamental problem is not that FIFA lacks the legal authority to override US immigration decisions — that much is broadly understood — but that the organization appears to have accepted these outcomes too readily, without the kind of sustained and public diplomatic pressure that the gravity of the situations demanded. A referee denied entry to the World Cup he has spent his career preparing for deserves more than philosophical musings about the limits of FIFA's authority.
The Bigger Picture: World Cup Accessibility in Question
The visa controversies swirling around the 2026 FIFA World Cup touch on a fundamental and uncomfortable question about whether this tournament — the largest in World Cup history with 48 teams and matches across 16 host cities — can genuinely live up to football's promise of universal inclusion when the host country's immigration policies create real and significant barriers for fans, officials, and national teams from certain parts of the world.
For football fans across Africa, the Middle East, and other regions whose citizens face heightened US visa scrutiny, Infantino's call to "chill and relax" will ring hollow unless FIFA demonstrates through concrete actions — not just press conference assurances — that it is genuinely fighting to ensure every person with a legitimate role in the world's greatest football tournament can participate fully, fairly, and with dignity. The world will be watching to see whether FIFA's behind-the-scenes efforts match the scale of the challenge — or whether "chill and relax" is ultimately all it has to offer.