Infantino tells Fifa critics to 'meditate, pray or watch football'

Infantino tells Fifa critics to 'meditate, pray or watch football'Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Gianni Infantino has been Fifa president since 2016ByElizabeth BotcherbyBBC Sport journalistPublished2 minutes agoFifa president Gianni Infantino has told critics to "meditate, pray or watch a football match" instead of "spreading hate and false rumours" about his leadership, the governing body and the World Cup.In a 15-slide post on his personal Instagram account - reposted to Fifa's eight million followers - Infantino addressed "those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens" to affirm his belief that, while they were "busy planting seeds of hate", Fifa was delivering the "greatest event on earth".He said the World Cup "celebrated humanity at its best", adding that the 2026 tournament had "100% safety and security, only joy and happiness". Infantino downplayed several of the tournament's high-profile controversies and hailed the involvement of Iran, who featured at the World Cup despite their ongoing conflict with co-hosts the United States, as a success. He said Fifa "worked tirelessly to unite two countries at war", with Iran entering the country "without incident or conflict".His comments are in stark contradiction to those of Iran's head coach Amir Ghalenoei, who said his team were the "most oppressed" at the World Cup.Infantino's 'time is up' with Fifa - La Liga bossPublished5 days agoThe country that doesn't play football... yetPublished6 days agoIran faced visa delays, "integral" members of their backroom staff were denied entry to the US and fans had their allocation of tickets revoked, while Iran also had to move their training base from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico following a multitude of logistical issues in the build up to the tournament.They later also encountered restrictions...