When Infantino sat down at the Azteca he knew exactly which questions would be coming his way.<\/p>\n
How could he not?<\/p>\n
The expulsion of Artan after an 11-hour interrogation<\/a> at Miami International Airport had come just hours earlier, accused by a US official of having links to terrorists<\/a> in his homeland.<\/p>\n “It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia,” Infantino said. “But again, we don’t control everything.<\/p>\n “We try, we’ll discuss, we’ll speak, we’ll see. Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to just, you know, chill, relax.”<\/p>\n Those words will have been of little comfort to Artan, who touched down back in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday after seeing his World Cup dream die.<\/p>\n There were no words of support for the official, no regrets expressed. It was just “unfortunate”.<\/p>\n When questioned about other visa issues, which have affected fans and team delegates too, Infantino deflected attention to the 2035 Women’s World Cup – which is almost certain to be awarded to the United Kingdom.<\/a><\/p>\n “Would you find it normal that Fifa would dictate to the British government who to let in the country and who not to let in the country?” Infantino asked.<\/p>\n When England hosted the World Cup in 1966, a strikingly similar situation happened.<\/p>\n The UK government feared the presence of communist North Korea could cause diplomatic shockwaves and it considered denying entry.<\/p>\n After a letter from the Football Association warned the government that the country risked losing the World Cup,<\/a> concessions were made to allow them to take part.<\/p>\n