Overview
- Reporters verified that FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended 24 group-stage matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico during the 2026 World Cup.
- Plane‑tracking linked a single private jet to those appearances and recorded 27 flights that covered at least 31,144 miles and more than 66 hours in the air.
- Analysts estimated the jet’s group‑stage travel generated roughly 516 tonnes of CO2e, an amount equivalent to about 78 people’s annual emissions on average.
- FIFA told reporters the president “routinely travels” for operational reasons but did not confirm which aircraft was used or whether the flights were offset.
- The reporting has intensified scrutiny of FIFA’s public emissions targets and governance after prior regulator findings and climate analyses flagged gaps in past World Cup carbon claims.