On June 16, according to The Guardian, Infantino plans to watch two FIFA World Cup matches every day, and Qatar Airways has provided him with a private jet.
According to The Guardian, despite the long distances, Infantino plans to watch two matches every day for the remainder of the FIFA World Cup, whenever possible.
The FIFA president has access to a private jet provided by Qatar Airways, an in-kind compensation included in Qatar Airways' sponsorship agreement with FIFA. This plane will be very useful when Infantino travels to the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
After watching the opening match of this FIFA World Cup in Mexico City last Thursday local time, Infantino immediately flew to Guadalajara to watch South Korea defeat the Czech Republic. The next day, he rushed to Los Angeles to watch the US team beat Paraguay 4-1. On Saturday, he watched Qatar against Switzerland in San Francisco and Australia against Turkey in Vancouver, respectively.
Infantino did not attend matches on Sunday because he was in Miami hosting a FIFA summit, attended by representatives from 211 member associations. Afterward, he returned to Los Angeles that evening to watch Iran's first match of the tournament against New Zealand.
FIFA sources confirmed that despite the packed schedule, Infantino will still try to watch two matches every day. The 56-year-old watched almost all 64 matches during the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup, as the farthest distance between stadiums was only 46 miles then.
The finals of this FIFA World Cup span four time zones and three countries, with distances between the 16 stadiums reaching up to 2,800 miles.
Infantino's travel will be more extensive than that of any participating team. Among all participating teams, Bosnia and Herzegovina has the toughest schedule in the group stage, flying 3,144 miles from Toronto to Los Angeles and then to Seattle, and also returning to their training camp in Salt Lake City between matches.
Due to the long distances, the New Climate Institute described this FIFA World Cup as "the most polluting event ever" and estimated it will produce approximately 9 million tons of CO2 equivalent. Of this, carbon emissions from air travel will account for about 7.7 million tons, more than four times the average emissions of the FIFA World Cups from 2010 to 2022.