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A police motorcade escort captured on video heading to the Vancouver Convention Centre late Tuesday morning could not have been for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, according to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).
That’s because despite a request, the head of soccer’s global governing body does not meet the requirements to receive that level of protection, according to a VPD spokesperson.
The motorcade consisted of five VPD motorcycles with flashing lights, both leading and following two SUVs with tinted back windows. A short siren burst was heard as the motorcade began to turn left off Burrard Street onto Canada Place Way.
The 76th FIFA Congress, a meeting of the federation’s more than 200 member associations, is underway at the convention centre.
CBC News shared the video of the motorcade with Vancouver police.
“That would be one of our internationally protected persons escorted to the convention centre today,” VPD Const. Darren Wong said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We won’t be releasing specific names.”
Wong said a request for Infantino to be driven around Vancouver in a high-protection motorcade was denied.
“As the FIFA executive do not meet Internationally Protected Person (IPP) standards that would warrant such an escort (closing roads, intersections, not adhering to traffic devices, etc.), the request was declined,” he said in a statement.
VPD say a request to provide FIFA president Gianni Infantino with a high-level police escort to travel around Vancouver was denied. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
A statement from the office of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said that as host city for the FIFA Congress and World Cup matches this summer, it is standard practice to receive security and transportation requests from international delegations.
“VPD has confirmed that there will be no motorcade proceeding through traffic signals, and no Emergency Response Team assigned in the manner described. Any transportation arrangements that are made will be appropriate, measured, and consistent with how Vancouver safely hosts major international events,” reads the statement.
The FIFA Congress is an annual event where member soccer federations vote on finances and major decisions, including where to stage future World Cups.
The main congress meeting goes Thursday at the convention centre and has significance as a lead-in for the seven 2026 men’s World Cup games that will be staged at B.C. Place as part of the tournament in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
FIFA voted Tuesday to increase the money distributed to the 48 teams competing at the 2026 men’s World Cup by 15 per cent to $871 million U.S.
The breakdown of the change, in U.S. dollars, is as follows:
Preparation money increased from $1.5 million to $2.5 million.Qualification money increased from $9 million to $10 million.Additional subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations totalling over $16 million.