FIFA president’s jet has logged enough distance to circle the equator twice

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Or sign-in if you have an account.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, from left, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and FBI Director Kash Patel attend the World Cup match between Colombia and Portugal at Miami Stadium on June 27. Photo by (Photo credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)This year’s World Cup features an unprecedented 104 matches after FIFA expanded the competition to include 48 teams. By the tournament’s end, Gianni Infantino will have attended nearly half of them.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERSEnjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountTo do so, the FIFA president has flown about 57,700 miles between the three host countries — Canada, Mexico and the US — on a luxury Gulfstream G650ER operated by Qatar Airways that FIFA pays to use, according to a Bloomberg calculation of the shortest distance between airports based on numbers from JetSpy, an aviation data provider.That’s equivalent to taking 23 flights between Los Angeles and New York, or lapping Earth’s equator twice.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againSuited and surrounded by football officials, Infantino has been such a ubiquitous sight at this year’s tournament that one online joke claiming he was present at two simultaneous games went viral. Infantino didn’t bend the rules of space and time to attend two games at once, but he did attend two games played on the same day in different cities — sometimes in different countries — on 13 occasions.His attendance is especially notable due to the unprecedented scope of this year’s tournament. In 2022, Infantino made a point of attending all 64 matches held in Qatar — a country smaller than Connecticut. Not only does this year’s tournament have 40 more matches, but it’s also the first in FIFA’s century-long history to be hosted by three countries.FIFA will consider stretching the next tournament even further to include 64 teams, Infantino told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport. The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.Infantino’s longest travel day was June 26, when his jet flew more than 5,500 miles. After watching Ivory Coast defeat Curaçao in Philadelphia the evening before and spending the night in Miami, he flew to Dallas, where he briefly visited Jordan’s team. An hour and a half later, he jetted off to Seattle to catch the match between Egypt and Iran. After the game, he flew back to Miami for the night, where he watched Colombia and Portugal the next day.The 56-year-old FIFA president will have watched six games in Miami — more than any other location — following Saturday’s third-place match between France and England. He relocated to the South Florida city two years ago ahead of the tournament.A FIFA spokesperson declined to comment on Infantino’s World Cup itinerary.The World Cup caused a spike in demand for private jet charters this summer as wealthy soccer enthusiasts built multi-city travel itineraries, said Barry Shevlin, chief executive officer of private aviation company FlyUSA. But it would take the average private jet customer at least a year to travel anywhere near 57,700 miles, he said.Infantino’s World Cup itinerary could cost more than $350,000 in jet fuel alone and produce over 700 tons of CO2 emissions, Shevlin said. That’s roughly equal to the annual carbon footprint of 40 average Americans.When Infantino is at a World Cup game, broadcasts often cut to him more than once. Those cuts have occasionally been met with boos from fans reacting to Infantino’s numerous controversies throughout the tournament — most notably FIFA’s rare decision to rescind a one-game ban given to US player Folarin Balogun after President Donald Trump made a phone call to Infantino requesting the penalty be revoked.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Infantino’s close ties to the Trump administration were on display at the US’ opening match against Paraguay, which he attended with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.More often than heads of state, Infantino has attended matches with the presidents of soccer federations from around the world who participate in FIFA’s Congress. An expanded World Cup is an opportunity for the FIFA president to meet his constituents as he seeks a fourth term as the head of soccer’s governing body, said Declan Abernethy, a lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology who studies the sport’s history.“The way that this system works is by relationships,” Abernethy said. “He recognizes that those relationships are critical. Being there gives him authority, but it also shows who he is beholden to.”Infantino is widely expected to be reelected by the FIFA Congress, which has representatives from 211 countries and holds an election next March.—With assistance from Christopher CannonOur website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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