Gianni Infantino Tegaskan Piala Dunia AS Mustahil Tanpa Donald Trump

Presiden FIFA Gianni Infantino menyatakan bahwa penyelenggaraan Piala Dunia di Amerika Serikat tidak akan mungkin terwujud tanpa adanya keterlibatan dan komitmen dari Presiden AS Donald Trump.

Pernyataan tersebut disampaikan Infantino dalam konferensi pers di Mexico City pada Rabu menjelang turnamen yang digarap bersama oleh Amerika Serikat, Meksiko, dan Kanada. Hubungan erat antara kedua pimpinan tersebut memicu sorotan di tengah kebijakan pengetatan imigrasi pemerintah AS.

Ketatnya regulasi keamanan berujung pada penolakan visa masuk bagi sejumlah jurnalis serta wasit asal Somalia, Omar Artan. Analisis data perjalanan oleh BBC menunjukkan para penggemar dari seperempat negara peserta kini menghadapi pembatasan perjalanan dan tingginya tingkat penolakan visa.

Selain masalah imigrasi, Infantino juga menanggapi kritik terkait harga tiket Piala Dunia yang melambung tinggi hingga mencapai puluhan ribu dolar AS. Ia berkilah bahwa tarif tersebut masih setara dengan harga tiket ajang olahraga besar lain di kawasan Amerika Utara.

Terlepas dari berbagai kendala operasional tersebut, Infantino memuji keberhasilan timnya dalam memastikan partisipasi Tim Nasional Iran. Kehadiran Iran dinilai menjadi pencapaian besar di tengah tingginya tensi geopolitik dengan pihak tuan rumah.

Berikut adalah pernyataan lengkap Gianni Infantino mengenai dinamika persiapan Piala Dunia 2026:

"It’s not easy when you have 300,000 accredited people, majority of which from outside of the US, to process them to vet them, you don’t know. Unfortunately, our world is a very aggressive world and security goes above everything and you need to respect the decisions which are taken and when I say to chill, I don’t mean to chill and do nothing." kata Infantino.

Ia menambahkan bahwa FIFA terus bekerja keras di balik layar untuk menyelaraskan situasi demi kelancaran turnamen sepak bola akbar ini.

"I mean to trust us, that we are working behind the scenes, we are trying to understand and there are things we can know, things we cannot know, things we are told, not told." ujar Infantino.

Pihaknya menegaskan komitmen untuk selalu mencari jalan keluar terbaik dari setiap kendala diplomasi yang muncul.

"We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and to find solutions. Sometimes we manage, other times not." tutur Infantino.

Ia kemudian menyoroti kedatangan tim nasional Iran ke wilayah Amerika Serikat sebagai sebuah kesuksesan besar yang nyata.

"I think it has already been successful to bring Iran to play in America. I don't know who would have managed to do that, and of course, everyone here believes it's the right thing to do but again we don't live on the moon; we live on planet earth and you have to deal with different situations. We try to do our best and I hope we’ll have some good news." ucap Infantino.

Infantino mengenang momen kunjungannya langsung saat memantau persiapan skuad Iran beberapa bulan sebelum turnamen dimulai.

"Let me say that on Iran, I am very happy because I went to see the Iranian team in Turkey in March this year." kata Infantino.

Ia menceritakan kegigihan para pemain Iran yang tetap optimistis bisa bertanding walau sempat diragukan akibat hambatan politik.

"People were saying Iran couldn't come to the World Cup, I promised them they will come and if I have to go on a bus to Tehran and drive them here I will do that. Their answer was we will take the bus and drive ourselves if needs be. We qualified and we want to play.

This is the spirit of football. There are challenges, it's not easy, but I don't know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances - which we could not influence - Iran could come and play. When Iran plays, the stadium will be full and I hope there will be a positive atmosphere because this is football, it's about people forgetting their realities and focusing on a match and a team." ujar Infantino.

Secara khusus, Infantino memberikan apresiasi tinggi kepada seluruh jajaran manajemen FIFA atas hasil kerja keras tersebut.

"I am very happy we managed to get Iran to come and play. I am proud of the work of my team." kata Infantino.

Sikap keras Infantino terhadap pembatasan perjalanan sebetulnya sudah pernah disuarakan sejak periode pertama kepemimpinan Donald Trump pada 2017 silam.

"It's obvious when it comes to Fifa competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup," ucap Infantino.

Kritik dari media Barat terhadap jalannya turnamen juga memicu respons defensif dari Infantino, yang membandingkannya dengan gelaran di Qatar tahun 2022.

"Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker." tutur Infantino.

Ia menilai negara-negara Eropa seharusnya berkaca pada sejarah kelam mereka sendiri ketimbang sibuk menghakimi reformasi negara lain.

"I have difficulties understanding the criticism. We have to invest in helping these people, in education and to give them a better future and more hope. We should all educate ourselves. Many things are not perfect but reform and change takes time." kata Infantino.

Pimpinan sepak bola dunia tersebut juga menuding ada motif standar ganda di balik kecaman masif yang diarahkan kepada panitia penyelenggara.

"This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no-one recognises the progress made here since 2016." ujar Infantino.

Sementara terkait hubungan bilateral, Infantino memuji keterlibatan langsung dari Presiden Donald Trump dalam mempersiapkan ajang olahraga terbesar ini.

"I have a great relationship with President Trump," kata Infantino.

Ia merasa kerja sama yang terjalin erat sejak masa jabatan pertama Trump telah mempermudah koordinasi lintas sektoral.

"I'm very happy about that, I got to know him during his first mandate and we have been working very closely together now in his second term," ujar Infantino.

Infantino meyakini bahwa dukungan penuh dari otoritas tertinggi di Amerika Serikat merupakan kunci utama eksekusi proyek masif ini.

"Without his engagement and his involvement I think it would have been impossible -- as simple as that -- impossible to organise a World Cup in the United States." tutur Infantino.

Menurutnya, Trump langsung merespons dengan cepat begitu mengetahui dampak ekonomi dan sosial berskala masif dari ajang ini.

"Trump "understood immediately the magnitude of the World Cup, the impact of the World Cup and instructed the administration to help and assist."" kata Infantino.

Meski begitu, Infantino mengakui ada batasan wewenang yang tidak bisa diintervensi oleh asosiasi sepak bola tertinggi dunia tersebut, seperti kasus penolakan wasit Omar Artan.

"unfortunate" but FIFA "could not control everything"." ucap Infantino.