Daily Times

MOSCOW: FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the 2018 World Cup as the best-ever on Friday and said it had changed perceptions of the host nation Russia. Infantino, dressed in a red volunteer’s uniform and in triumphant mood, hailed the success of video assistant referees (VARs) and predicted that goals scored from offside positions would be a thing of the past, at least in competitions where the new technology was used. “For a couple of years, I was saying it would be the best World Cup ever, today I can say that with more conviction,” he said Infantino promised that the tournament would leave a lasting legacy and there were “concrete plans” to make sure the stadiums were used in the future. “This country, Russia, has changed. Russia has become a real football country… where football has become part of the country’s DNA and the culture,” he said. “We had 98 percent occupancy of the stadiums, one million fans from abroad to discover this country, more than three billion viewers on television and there will certainly be one billion for the final. Everyone has discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, full of people who are keen to show to the world that what maybe is sometimes said is not what happens here.” Infantino said that, despite initial fears, the VAR system had worked well, it had reviewed a of 19 decisions in the 62 matches so far and had corrected 16 decisions which were initially wrong. Infantino did not give any new information on the whether the first 48-team tournament would be in Qatar in 2022 instead of in 2026 as originally planned.

Published in Daily Times, July 14^th 2018.