Diego Basave

[Diego Basave @basave]

@neiltyson @TomCruise This is not accurate. He's been nominated various times. Aren't you a scientist dude?

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

Gianni Infantino may have more than doubled FIFA’s revenue since he took over as the organization’s president, in 2016. But his political dealings and unilateral authority have made him “unassailable, unloved, and corrosive to the sport that he adores,” Sam Knight writes.
https://t.co/eElkxQwrFD

[Diego Basave @basave]

Habla mucho de lo chafa que es la Femexfut cuando sacan un video narrado con voz A.I. que le da a Chespirito 5 acentos de distintos paises.

[Selección Nacional @miseleccionmx]

No solo somos 26… Somos los de aquí y los de allá. Hoy y siempre.

#SomosMéxico 🇲🇽

[Attorney General Jennifer Davenport @NewJerseyOAG]

It’s an honor to host the World Cup – but the event isn’t an invitation to exploit our residents.

Together with @NewYorkStateAG, we're investigating FIFA ticketing practices that may have misled buyers and cause prices to soar.

https://t.co/j4c05iKW1n

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

This belongs to all of us.

[Diego Basave @basave]

FIFA odia el futbol, no me quedan dudas

[FIFA World Cup @FIFAWorldCup]

The world's biggest stage. An even bigger purpose. On July 19, the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final Halftime Show is coming to New York New Jersey Stadium, featuring superstars @Madonna , @shakira , and @bts_bighit , curated by @coldplay ‘s Chris Martin!

A FIFA World Cup first, the Halftime Show supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative working to raise $100 USD million to expand access to quality education and football for children around the world. Throughout the tournament, USD 1 from every ticket sold to FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches will be donated to the Fund.

[Miguel Delaney @MiguelDelaney]

Special report: the great World Cup rip-off

- Fifa's central role beyond tickets
- Fifa REJECTED similar plans in 1994
- all decisions from president's office
- Fifa, the "safeguards", usher in a model club owners crave
- Fifa going against own statutes

https://t.co/sbtGYyUqZV

[Diego Basave @basave]

@RepNellie @FrankPallone You are so late on this

[Diego Basave @basave]

@TheAthleticFC @HenryBushnell Did you know that if you resell a ticket on the FIFA platform, it can take more than 6 months before they pay you? This to me is even more abusive than the prices.

[The New York Times @nytimes]

From @TheAthleticFC: A request for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be given a level-four motorcade escort — typically reserved for the Pope— for FIFA's annual congress in Vancouver this week was rejected by local police. https://t.co/WA5tFAXVaE

[Diego Basave @basave]

FIFA charging thousands of $$ for tickets, hotels charging thousands of $$ for rooms, cities like New Jersey charging crazy amounts for transport. Sounds about right.

[The New York Times @nytimes]

From @TheAthleticFC: FIFA came to North America years ago promising that the 2026 World Cup would bring millions of visitors and billions of dollars. But with two months to go, the long-promised World Cup boom hasn’t yet materialized. https://t.co/IphSCSKra7

[Diego Basave @basave]

@GovKathyHochul Governor, NJ is abusing New Yorkers with these fees, you should step in and reason with our neighbor state

[Diego Basave @basave]

@NYCMayor New Yorkers are being abused by FIFA and now by our neighbor state, we need your help

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

New Jersey Transit confirmed in a media briefing on Friday that World Cup match goers will be charged $150 for a return rail trip from New York Pennsylvania station to MetLife Stadium this summer.

Tickets are ordinarily priced at $12.90, meaning that special event pricing for the FIFA World Cup will be over eleven times more expensive, representing the latest huge cost to fans during the tournament.

The Athletic first reported the pricing in a series of reports earlier this week, which ignited a row between New Jersey’s governor and FIFA.

Full story from @AdamCrafton_ here ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/KKW5JercBj

[Diego Basave @basave]

This is completely absurd, now it is not only @FIFAWorldCup but New Jersey ripping us off.

[The New York Times @nytimes]

From @TheAthleticFC: New Jersey Transit confirmed on Friday that World Cup match goers will be charged $150 for a return rail trip from New York's Penn Station to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey this summer. Tickets are ordinarily priced at $12.90. https://t.co/QMm8dMaaw7

[Diego Basave @basave]

@FabrizioRomano first Rodri and now Enzo. If you're going to promote Saudi League and Real Madrid you should at least disclose it

[Diego Basave @basave]

@FabrizioRomano @FabrizioRomano you're not a serious journalist, this is the classic move by Real Madrid to create noise. Hope you're being paid well for all the reposts.

[Diego Basave @basave]

no sean gueyes, CR es el peor del equipo ahorita

[Latinus @latinus_us]

Golpe a la reventa: boletos para el México-Portugal se ofrecen desde mil 700 pesos tras confirmarse la ausencia de Cristiano Ronaldo.
#Latinus #InformaciónParaTi
https://t.co/BFqHaxivGc

[Diego Basave @basave]

@NYCMayor You were supposed to get tough on FIFA Mayor, what happened to you?

[Diego Basave @basave]

Metieron a Bellingham pa que el presi no haga sus dramas. Raphinha 1000 veces antes.

[FIFA World Cup @FIFAWorldCup]

#TheBest FIFA Men's 11 in 2025. ✨

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

The Adoration of the Maga. A few thoughts. It all felt a step too far by Gianni Infantino. The award of the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize felt more to do with its president’s desire to please powerful politicians as much as Donald Trump’s love of such glitzy, expensive offerings of loyalty last seen in medieval courts.

It felt more about politics than sport, a risky game for Fifa to play whenever it wants to bring a national association into line for perceived interference by government in the future. The Trump trophy weakens Fifa statutes. It also distracted from the real trophy, the World Cup, and the group-stage draw, traditionally a celebration about bringing countries together. Infantino took his eye off the balls.

A football draw designed to work out who plays who and (eventually) where and when is not the time or place for such politics. Infantino wasn’t speaking for the world in bestowing the Peace Prize, as he claimed. So presumptuous. So out of touch. Many probably agree that Trump has been a force for good in geopolitics, some might disagree. Most would probably feel such decisions should be left to experienced experts like the Nobel Committee and, please, can we get on with a football draw.

It’s spectacularly naïve or simply arrogant for Fifa to enter such non-football areas. It feels more and more that this was as much an Infantino initiative as Fifa’s. Infantino was supposed to drain the swamp when he arrived at Fifa in 2016 in the wake of assorted corruption scandals bedevilling the governing body of world football. How fitting that the nadir of Infantino’s propensity for self-aggrandisement as leader of what’s supposed to be a team game came in Washington. It was there that Trump promised to transform politics with his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, also in 2016.

The selfie moment was particularly cringe-worthy. Infantino forgets that football is the star of the show, not a 55-year lawyer. A senior football executive, who’s been at the heart of the English and European game for more than 20 years, messaged me during the drawn-out draw with his verdict on Infantino. “I feel revulsion, anger, shame, disgust – how has our sport been taken over by a Swiss ***** and turned into a total travesty???” He also pointed out that ensuring the leaders of USA, Mexico and Canada each somehow pulled out their own country’s name was not a good look for a draw based on chance.

Great for the cameras, though. Flash, bang, wallop, what a picture of Infantino's priorities. And who gets the next FIFA Peace Prize? And wouldn't Infantino have gained more respect had he used the money for the Trump trophy to subsidise excessive ticket costs? He's lost sight of what should be the real priorities for the leader of football. The game.

It's sad, really. Many sensible people work at Fifa, passionate about the game not their own ego, but it's alarming what happens to the leadership when they take power there. Even the great football manager Arsene Wenger has changed since becoming Chief of Global Football Development at Fifa. He now campaigns for more games, backing the expanded World Cup, which he would have railed against as a widely-admired, free-thinking club manager, fiercely protective of his players' well-being. "I believe that 48 teams is the right number." Arsene, just listen to yourself.

Many fans probably won’t lose much sleep that Wenger dances to Fifa's tune or that Infantino cosies up to Trump, Aramco and co. Some probably think Fifa’s a video game. Most just can’t wait for the football. The game’s about Mbappe and Messi, Haaland and Salah, Kane and Dembele, not Infantino and Trump.

The game’s about the Tartan Army, the brilliant Mexican following, the ever-hopeful English, the mobile carnival of Brazilians and the millions of other fans flocking to venue cities next summer, only a third with tickets. The USA is prepared for the party. I covered USA 94 and you couldn’t really tell there was a tournament on, certainly where I was in Detroit, Chicago and DC. You will this time, also in Canada. Mexico's total immersion was never in doubt given their passion for the game.

Infantino should remember this. He runs a great football organisation, not a political organisation. He needs to re-focus. Fifa is undeniably a force for good in many countries. The Fifa Foundation runs a new community programme that supports 154,924 people in 54 nations. Its new Digital Education Programme works on computer literacy amongst disadvantaged groups, helping them into the workplace. It’s easy to say it’s all about Infantino (Foundation board president), soft power and ensuring he keeps countries onside, voting for him, but the Foundation undeniably changes lives.

Infantino needs to look at his Adoration of the Maga and remember what he should be doing for football: serving it, not himself. #FIFAWorldCup.