FIFA president Gianni Infantino has attended 24 matches across three countries in just over two weeks at this summer's World Cup — taking 27 flights aboard a private jet and logging tens of thousands of air miles in the process.
BBC Verify and BBC Sport tracked a private jet linked to FIFA and Infantino throughout the group stage. The aircraft's flight paths, cross-referenced with published photographs of Infantino at stadiums, confirm his presence in multiple cities across the US, Canada, and Mexico.
A continent-spanning schedule
Infantino attended two matches per day on several occasions during the group stage, sometimes flying between cities hundreds of miles apart. On some days, he boarded three separate flights.
His longest single trip in the opening two weeks stretched 2,800 miles (4,507km) — from Vancouver to Miami on 13 June, after watching Australia face Turkey. His most gruelling travel day came on 15 June, when he covered more than 2,700 miles (4,000km) flying from Miami to Seattle for Belgium's match against Egypt, then continued roughly 960 miles (1,545km) south to Los Angeles to catch Iran v New Zealand the same evening.
On 22 June, a shorter hop of just 92 miles (148km) took him from Philadelphia to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Though no match was scheduled there, Infantino appeared the following morning at Fox News studios in nearby New York before travelling on to matches in Boston and Toronto that same day.
On 26 June, the jet departed Miami, made a brief stop in Dallas, then flew on to Seattle where Infantino was photographed at the Egypt v Iran fixture. The aircraft left Seattle roughly five hours after landing, completing a return journey of around 2,700 miles (4,345km) to Miami, where it touched down the next morning. Infantino then attended Portugal's group-stage match against Colombia in Miami — his 24th and final game of the group phase.
In total, the jet covered at least 31,144 miles (50,122km) and spent more than 66 hours in the air between the tournament's opening and 27 June.
The emissions question
The aircraft Infantino is believed to be flying in — a Gulfstream G650ER — burns approximately 1,817 litres of fuel per hour. Based on UK government greenhouse gas conversion figures, the group-stage travel produced an estimated 516 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e), a figure that accounts for both direct emissions and the indirect climate effects of aviation.
To put that in perspective: the global average yearly greenhouse gas output for one person is 6.56 tonnes CO2e, according to EU data. Infantino's fortnight of travel is therefore estimated to have generated roughly the same emissions as 78 people would produce over an entire year.
Freddie Daley, a researcher at Sussex University who works for the sport climate action network Cool Down, described Infantino's apparent use of a private jet as
