Multiple environmental organizations, activists, and climate scientists have warned that the 2026 FIFA World Cup could potentially be the most polluting sporting event in the history of humanity — a concern that attracted more attention on Tuesday as FIFA confirmed its president, Gianni Infantino, would be flying often to attend as many soccer games as possible.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is responsible for staging the World Cup, a global soccer tournament widely regarded as one of the world’s largest and most prestigious sporting events, every four years. This year, the tournament is being held in North America, spread throughout Canada, Mexico, and America. The World Cup final match is scheduled to be hosted by New Jersey.
This year’s tournament introduced historic changes to the field, including expanding the number of competing teams from 32 to 48. As a result, a much larger number of people, including both team staffers and fans, are expected to fly around the world to participate, including small teams such as Scotland, Cabo Verde, and Curaçao.
Despite the larger number of competitors — and, as a result, the larger number of matches — and the much more vast geographic distances in this tournament compared to the 2022 World Cup hosted by the small Gulf nation of Qatar, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is reportedly striving to attend as many matches as possible. According to the left-wing newspaper the Guardian and the New York Times, Infantino will rely on a private jet in an attempt to watch two matches a day. The Guardian identified the aircraft in question as a private jet provided by Qatar Airways, a sponsor of the tournament.
“After attending the opening game of the tournament in Mexico City last Thursday, Infantino immediately flew on to Guadalajara for South Korea’s victory against Czechia,” the newspaper narrated. “The next day he was in Los Angeles for the USA’s 4-1 win against Paraguay, before taking in games in San Francisco and Vancouver on Saturday between Qatar and Switzerland and Australia and Turkey respectively.”
FIFA confirmed to both publications that Infantino is attempting the grueling itinerary.
“As we have consistently stated, FIFA has put in place rules which establish the framework for flights and travel by any FIFA official,” a spokesperson for the sporting authority told the New York Times. “The FIFA President routinely travels, together with relevant officials, on business and tournament-related matters and strives to visit member associations of FIFA whenever he can.”
The statement went on to explain that “sometimes travel is organized on commercial (including low-cost) airlines and sometimes it is on private charter, depending on which is more efficient and cost-effective under the circumstances. FIFA pays travel costs.”
Infantino’s private jet travel is likely to infuriate climate change activists who had already begun sounding the alarm for alleged environmental dangers of the current tournament before it began. The Guardian highlighted by way of example a study published by the New Weather Institute a year ago that declared the 2026 World Cup “among the most polluting sporting events in history;” the British newspaper quoted the institute referring to it as “the most polluting event ever.”
“Governing the world’s greatest game, FIFA has a huge responsibility but shows a fatal climate blind spot in its duty of care to fans, players, and the future of the sport,” the study declared. “When it should be taking urgent steps to protect all of these from global heating, its actions reveal a reckless disregard for their climate consequences.”
According to the New Weather Institute, the World Cup Finals in North America will be responsible for an estimated 9.0 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) being released, the most of the three upcoming tournaments. Various European nations, spearheaded by Spain, are expected to host the 2030 tournament, while Saudi Arabia was chosen as the 2034 host.
The study expressed particular frustration with FIFA for allowing the Saudi oil company Aramco to sponsor the tournament and for expanding the number of teams playing, which it predicted would result in an air transport emissions increase of between 160 to 325 percent in the next three tournaments.
The Institute is not alone in its alarm about the World Cup. As Reuters noted last week, prior to the beginning of the tournament, the global carbon accounting platform Greenly estimated that the tournament will produce as much as 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, “roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 1.7 million cars, or the yearly emissions of Sierra Leone.”
Speaking to the outlet Civicus on Monday, Frank Huisingh, founder of Fossil Free Football, called the World Cup “probably the most polluting event humanity has ever staged,” echoing the New Weather Institute. Huisingh noted that one positive factor in the 2026 World Cup is that no new stadiums were constructed for the event, but “the host cities are so far apart that the only way to get between most matches is by plane, and fans are effectively forced to fly to follow their team.” Huisingh also condemned FIFA for allowing the World Cup to be a “giant billboard for polluters,” citing sponsors such as Aramco and Qatar Airways.
FIFA describes itself on its website as “committed to enabling sustainable development, particularly in relation to climate-related aspects and human rights.” It published a climate strategy explaining how it was expressing that commitment, primarily through the publication of emissions estimates for its events and carbon “offsetting,” a practice that typically means spending money on “green” projects to compensate for alleged environmental damages.
“There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a climate emergency,” Infantino writes in the climate strategy document. “Climate change and its impact is undoubtedly one of the most pressing challenges of our time, if not the most critical, and it requires each of us to take immediate and sustainable climate action.”
