27 flights, 24 matches: How Fifa’s president is jetting around World CupByJake Horton, Tom Shiel, Ciaran Varley and Katie GornallBBC Verify and BBC SportPublished38 minutes agoFifa president Gianni Infantino has attended 24 matches in just over two weeks all across North America at this summer’s World Cup, clocking up thousands of air miles.The tournament is spread over three countries – the US, Canada and Mexico – with 16 host cities, and there are more matches than ever as the group stage has been expanded.In Fifa’s 2026 World Cup sustainability and human rights strategy, the president reported: “Whether we speak about climate, human rights, diseases or disabilities, we are committed to play our part.”BBC Verify and BBC Sport have been tracking a private jet – linked to Fifa and Infantino – which has taken 27 flights during the tournament to cities where the Fifa boss has been pictured attending matches.The estimated climate impact from this jet over a fortnight is roughly equivalent to those from 78 people on average over a whole year.How far has Fifa’s president travelled?Infantino has attended two games a day several times during the tournament’s group stage, often in cities hundreds of miles apart. He has taken three separate flights on some days.The Fifa president has been photographed using another Qatar Airways Executive jet before this tournament, and it has been declared he is flying in a Gulfstream G650ER at this World Cup.The BBC asked Fifa to confirm this. It did not respond – but we have mapped the aircraft’s flights using plane-tracking data and the destination of each journey matches with published photographs of Infantino at stadiums in the same cities on the same dates.The longest flight Infantino has taken in the first two weeks was 2,800 miles (4,507km) – from Vancouver to Miami on 13 June – after watching Australia play Turkey.He’s made some shorter journeys too – on 22 June the jet flew 92 miles (148km) from Philadelphia to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.Infantino didn’t attend a game there, but he was interviewed the following morning at the Fox News studio in neighbouring New York, before flying on to watch matches in Boston and Toronto later that day.His furthest single day of travel – not including overnight flights – was 15 June, when he flew more than 2,700 miles (4,000km) right across the US from Miami to Seattle to watch Belgium play Egypt. He then travelled about 960 miles (1,545km) south to Los Angeles where he attended Iran v New Zealand in the evening.Another big day of travel was 26 June when the jet took off from Miami, made a brief stop in Dallas, then continued to Seattle where Infantino was photographed at the Egypt v Iran match.The plane left Seattle about five hours after arriving, flying another 2,700 miles (4,345km) back to Miami, where it landed the following morning.Infantino watched his 24th and final match of the group stage in Miami the next day, where Portugal played Colombia.Our analysis shows that overall the private jet has travelled at least 31,144 miles (50,122km) and spent more than 66 hours in the air between the start of the tournament and 27 June.How much is that in emissions?Flying by private jet is typically the most carbon-intensive way to travel – producing greenhouse gases that warm the atmosphere, driving global warming and climate change.The Gulfstream G650ER, the plane Infantino is believed to be using, has an average fuel burn rate of approximately 1,817 litres per hour – meaning its travel during the group stage produced an estimated 516 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e), based on the UK government’s greenhouse gas conversions., external
The final CO2-equivalent figure includes estimates for the CO2 and other gases directly released, and is adjusted to include the indirect climate effects of aviation.
These can only be estimates, because we can’t know the exact real-life emissions, and fuel burn rates are typically higher during take-off and landing.
The global average yearly greenhouse gas emissions for an individual is 6.56t CO2e, according to EU data., external
Therefore Infantino’s travel is believed to have produced roughly the amount of CO2e in just over a fortnight as about 78 people might produce across a calendar year.
The plane holds up to 19 people and we don’t know how many were on board for each flight, so we can’t break down the exact emissions per passenger.
