FIFA president Gianni Infantino has told critics to “meditate, pray or watch a football match” instead of “spreading hate and false rumours” about his leadership, the governing body and the World Cup.

In a 15-slide post on his personal Instagram account, reposted to Fifa’s eight million followers, Infantino addressed “those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens” to affirm his belief that, while they were “busy planting seeds of hate”, FIFA was delivering the “greatest event on earth”.

He said the World Cup “celebrated humanity at its best”, adding that the 2026 tournament had “100% safety and security, only joy and happiness”.

Infantino downplayed several of the tournament’s high-profile controversies and hailed the involvement of Iran, who featured at the World Cup despite their ongoing conflict with co-hosts the United States, as a success.

He said FIFA “worked tirelessly to unite two countries at war”, with Iran entering the country “without incident or conflict”.

His comments are in stark contradiction to those of Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei, who said his team were the “most oppressed” at the World Cup. 

Infantino wrote, “You mentioned the few people denied visas and overlooked the millions who were approved, from all parts of the world. Because football unites the world, and it was impressively demonstrated this summer.”

Infantino also addressed criticism surrounding the standard of officiating at the tournament, in particular concerns about political interference after USA forward Folarin Balogun was made available for their last-16 tie when his one-match ban was suspended by FIFA, following the intervention of US President Donald Trump.

Infantino, however, argued that such decisions are not out of the ordinary, claiming similar rulings are “routine and widely accepted in some of the biggest leagues worldwide”.