Bob Mackin
“Today, Vancouver is definitely the capital of the world,” declared FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the start of the 76th FIFA Congress. “Because the entire world convened here in Vancouver.”
Except for Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation’s top three officials — one of whom is an ex-Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander — were absent from the Vancouver Convention Centre after being denied entry to Canada at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. IRGC is a designated terrorist entity in Canada, but the Canadian government granted Mehdi Taj a temporary permit anyway.
Gianni Infantino (front left) and Mattias Grafstrom at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, with the World Cup trophy. (FIFA)
FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom conducted the roll call at the April 30 meeting in Vancouver, one of 16 World Cup cities.
“Welcome to a world tour,” said the Swede, before naming every one of the 211 member countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe over 12 minutes.
Iran’s absence meant the total present was 210.
The meeting was the biggest international sport conference in Vancouver since the 2010 Winter Olympics brought the International Olympic Committee’s 122nd session.
The IOC has 206 member nations.
By comparison, it took about four minutes for a video listing names of those who passed away since the last FIFA Congress.
It included the “Victims of the tragic collapse of a balustrade at the 5 July 1962 Stadium in Algiers, Algeria.”
The last entry was: “Victims of armed conflicts globally.”
Iran will play
Infantino declared that “Iran will be participating at FIFA World Cup 2026, and of course Iran will play in the United States of America.”
One of those matches is June 26 in Seattle, against Egypt.
Despite the wishes of Donald Trump, the Infantino-decorated, FIFA Peace Prize laureate who, along with Israel, declared war against Iran on Feb. 28.
“We have to remember, always, that we have to be positive, we have to be smiling we have to be happy,” Infantino said. “There are enough problems around the world, there are enough people who try to divide all over the world. If nobody tries to unite, what will happen in the world?”
Inside the Vancouver Convention Centre on April 30, site of the 76th FIFA Congress. (Mackin)
Also for 12 minutes
FIFA vice-president/CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, the wealthy West Vancouver former insurance executive, spoke of his humble beginnings during a welcoming speech.
“Just a few kilometres from here in East Vancouver, as a five-year-old boy, I first kicked the football at a club called Grandview Legion. I grew up surrounded by the game here on local parks, on pitches, in clubhouses and in the streets where football meant identity, belonging and pride. My teammates back then came from across North and Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa. Yes, all six of our FIFA Confederations. Different languages, different cultures, but one game. Those are not distant memories. It is part of me, part of my life’s journey. They shaped how I see our sport, not just as something we play or watch, but as something that connects people across cultures, across generations and across borders. That is why this moment here, in my beloved city of Vancouver, means so much.”
At the end of the agenda, president-since-2016 Infantino announced his 2027 re-election bid to polite, but not enthusiastic, applause.
Could Montagliani’s speech have been the start of his campaign for the top job?
Ticketed-off
Infantino and Montagliani left without talking to reporters.
Grafstrom stayed for a few minutes. He was asked about the dominant controversy of the World Cup: FIFA’s high ticket pricing.
“I think there are, you know, a wide array of ticket prices,” Grafstrom said. “And some are cheap, some are more expensive. It’s also the reality of the market in North America.”
The legacy, he said “is also what we will be able to do with the money that is generated from this World Cup in 211 countries.”
Timing is everything
The Congress ran four hours, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
FIFA had the venue booked all day, but lunch beckoned.
FIFA put its technical experts — global football development head Arsene Wenger, chief football officer Jill Ellis and referees committee chair Pierluigi Collina — on stage for speeches. But not the finance and compliance experts — including CFO Thomas Peyer. They gave their reports by pre-recorded video, after coffee break.
FIFA projects US$14 billion revenue in the next four-year cycle, beginning in 2027.
The next in-person congress is next year in Rabat, Morocco, co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The Canadian government was represented by Adam van Koeverden, the secretary of state for sport. British Columbia’s tourism and sport minister Anne Kang and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim were also in attendance.
B.C. Premier David Eby was not.
No handshake
The day climaxed when Infantino’s attempt to be peacemaker flopped.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub spoke in English. Then Israel Football Association vice-president Basim Sheikh Suliman in Arabic.
Infantino brought them back on stage and tried coaxing them to shake hands. It was an awkward standoff, as they stood several metres apart. Rajoub, wearing a keffiyeh, loudly objected.
The former militant, jailed in 1970 for throwing a grenade at Israeli soldiers, has campaigned for FIFA to ban Israel outright.
“You should never forget something,” Infantino said. “Your two federations have the same rights, the right to organize football in your respective territories, the right to represent your countries on the international stage and the right and duty to instil in your children a love of football and respect for one another.”
What they said
FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom (Mackin)
Afterward Rajoub made a bee-line to reporters.
“Could I shake hands with someone representing a fascist and racist government and defending even the policies of this government? I don’t think that I have to shake hands, I don’t think that he’s a qualified partner to me. While I understand, I recognize that the Israeli Federation has the right to organize, develop a sport, but within their international recognized borders. Was he ready to say that for the Palestinians?”
FIFA banned Rajoub for a year in 2018 after he urged fans to protest Argentina’s friendly in Israel by burning Lionel Messi jerseys.
FIFA’s March fine against Israel for racism by supporters of Premier League team Beitar Jerusalem wasn’t strong enough, so Rajoub has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Suliman did not come to reporters, but the Israel association’s CEO Yariv Teper did.
“Our mission is to show the world that we can do it in a different way. And I think where our vice-president stood there, and the president of FIFA asked for both sides to come to the fore together —the way I see it, it was a missing opportunity in order to show something else for the world. We will be happy to any initiative to do a joint venture with the Palestinian Authority. We always were. It was always there from our side.”
Protests outside
The Southsiders came to rally in support of the Vancouver Whitecaps. (Mackin)
Up and at ‘em early: The Southsiders brought their Save the Caps campaign to the front door of the Vancouver Convention Centre as Congress delegates streamed in. One of the guests happened to be Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber.
As the Congress happened, news broke confirming a Kentucky horse racing tycoon’s bid to move the Whitecaps to Las Vegas.
Later, supporters of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, gathered. While they applauded the Islamic regime’s absence, they want FIFA to kick the federation out entirely.
In the afternoon, an anti-Israel protest, co-organized by Dave Diewert, one of the directors of Samidoun, a group on the Canada and U.S. terrorist list.
Also, UNITE HERE Local 40 hotel workers and the International Animal Coalition: IAWPC, Animal Save Movement, In Defense of Animals, SPCA International, Stray Dog Support and Lady Freethinker.
They dressed in Moroccan jerseys and staged a die-in to protest the mass-cull of dogs in the next World Cup co-host.
Police from Abbotsford, the B.C. RCMP and New Westminster joined Vancouver Police to secure the FIFA Congress at the Vancouver Convention Centre on April 30. (Mackin)
Keeping an eye on it all
Police from Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford and the RCMP.
They protected entrances to FIFA host hotels (Pan Pacific and Fairmont Pacific Rim) and the convention centre. In the air, a drone. In the water, RCMP and Royal Canadian Navy vessels.
B.C. RCMP Asst. Comm. John Brewer told this reporter last October that it would be a “security event.”
More to come from the 76th FIFA Congress on this week’s edition of thePodcast.
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