FIFA President Gianni Infantino became FIFA President in 2016.

Six years later, on the eve of his second FIFA World Cup™ as President, Gianni Infantino speaks about his journey and his passion for football.

00:00
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (EN) on importance of fans at a world cup
“Everywhere the fans were going to the stadium, going to watch a game [they all] feel the same. It is a moment that you are passing in a community with other people. It is a moment where you can let your emotions go. The fans are really the heart of the game. Without fans, there would be no football. And, the fact that when you are on the pitch as a player, when you are in the stands as a fan, you feel exactly in the same way. There is something that is particularly unique to our sport.”

00:45
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (EN) on his passion for football
The passion for football started when I was a child. Of course, I remember: kicking a ball with friends; starting to play in the local football team, which had yellow jerseys, in my hometown in Switzerland, in Brig, where I was born; playing, whether it was snowing or raining or the sun was shining outside; and also, of course, due to my very legendary football skills, I also remember some broken windows here and there – my parents were not too happy about that – and some garage doors which suffered as well, quite a lot. They’re nice memories, but this fact of playing together, of being with your friends, is something that is really part of the DNA of football, and it’s fantastic. I am the son of Italian immigrants in Switzerland, and football was a way as well, certainly, to interact, to be integrated with the local community. On one side, we had, of course, the Italians who were playing together against the Swiss, but we were also playing together with the Swiss and those of other nationalities. So, it’s a way of coming together, a way of being integrated. and this way of doing that through football is something which is, I think, really unique. It was certainly unique for me and for many, many people, I’m sure as well, all over the world.”

02:26
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (EN)
“You know, when you’re passionate about football, like I am, but you’re right-footed and have two left feet, you need to find other ways, of course, to get involved in the game. So, I started very young to organise games, to organise the teams, to bring the teams together, to organise events and tournaments. I organised my first football tournament when I was maybe ten or eleven years old. We organised international games every weekend because we were the Italians playing against the Swiss, or the Yugoslavs against the Portuguese or against the Spaniards. Playing football you bring football together, so I could somehow probably combine these key values with the passion and the joy for a game that brings people together. And throughout my life this has been le fils rouge [the common theme] I am still following.”

03:26
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (EN)
“People tend to say – those who know me – that I’m a hard worker, I don’t think that’s true because I’m actually not working at all. I’m living my passion and when you live your passion, of course, you don’t count hours, days, nights, travels, or what have you. But what is more important than that – and this is something I discovered after I became a President, I was travelling around the world – is that through football, you can really change the lives of so many people. Not just those who become world stars. But, just men and women, and more and more girls all over the world, who by playing football reach a different level of esteem, self-esteem of dignity, of positioning in their society. And, this is something that really has no price. We are all the same, right? We are all human beings – that’s actually, one of the values and the lessons of football. And we’ve always to remember where we’ve come from. There is actually a great thing about football, and for me it’s actually the most important lesson that you learn with football. You learn many things; team spirit, you win only as a team, you respect the rules, you respect the referee, but there is one crucial element in football, that is that actually when you win a game, you’re happy, you’re smiling. Whether you win the World Cup, or whether you win a game amongst friends, you are smiling, you go to work happy, you go to school happy. You are happy until when? Until the next game. When you lose a game however, you are sad, you are angry. But you’re sad and angry for an hour, a couple of hours, maybe a day. And after you start thinking about the next weekend when you will have the next game, and how you’re going to win that game. So, I think as a child you start already learning that when you stand up from every defeat, you take up the next challenge. So, it teaches you resilience and believing in yourself, believing in the community as well, in your teammates and going for the next challenge, always. After the defeat you always have to stand up and go for the next one.”

02:26
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (EN) on world cup stadiums in Qatar
“When it comes to the World Cup stadiums here in Qatar, [there are] eight state-of-the-art stadiums. I mean, one is more beautiful than the other – it’s really difficult to choose and pick one. Of course, the Lusail [Iconic] Stadium, where the final will take place, is special. The Al Bayt Stadium, where the opening match is taking place as well, is the shape of a tent, of an Arab tent, is extremely beautiful. The stadium we are [at] here is called the 974 Stadium because it’s built with 974 containers, and after the World Cup, the containers will be closed and the whole stadium will be shipped somewhere else. It’s part of the legacy as well of this World Cup, the sustainability of the World Cup, thinking about the environment and not just building white elephants that are not used thereafter. This stadium will be reused somewhere else in the world. And this will be quite a unique World Cup, because it’s a very compact World Cup with eight stadiums in 50 kilometres. You can watch more than one game per day, which, again, is unique, it’s never happened in any World Cup and it will never happen in the future as well, because everything is happening here in a small country with a big heart.”