Luxury tourism on the money of... football

There are people who collect stamps, there are people who collect fridge magnets and there is Gianni Infantino, the man who collects World Cup matches, like a child trying to catch all the figurines in a series. Infantino wants to attend two matches a day, according to The Guardian, which cites "sources close to FIFA”. One alone is not enough for him. It would be almost an insult to football not to see, on the same day, a Qatar-Switzerland and an Australia-Turkey. History cannot wait.

So the FIFA president does what any responsible man in the 21st century does: he jumps from Mexico City to Guadalajara, from there to Los Angeles, then to San Francisco and Vancouver, probably with the same naturalness with which ordinary mortals go to the corner store for bread. But Mr. Infantino's bread comes with wings and the Qatar Airways (FIFA sponsor) logo on the fuselage.

At this rate, the man is no longer watching the World Cup, but is making a kind of "Around the world in 80 flights", with the obligatory stopover on the red carpet and with a carbon footprint enough to make even a polar bear accustomed to the hardships of life sweat.

Here arises that uncomfortable question, which well-bred people avoid: what else could they use the money and energy spent so that the head of FIFA does not miss a single corner?

With the cost of renting a private plane used with imperial generosity, probably hundreds of children's teams from Africa, Asia or Latin America could receive balls, equipment, decent pitches and coaches. Thousands of kids who now play barefoot on beaten ground could learn that football does not begin and does not end with the FIFA logo printed on the background of a press conference.

And while we like to talk about big numbers, maybe some African villages would prefer a few water wells, some solar panels or some schools instead of the supreme satisfaction that Gianni also ticked Spain - Cape Verde. There are entire communities that would consider a fraction of the fuel burned a miracle so that the FIFA president can say, at dinner, that he saw the second half.

But maybe we are unfair. Maybe man sacrifices himself. Maybe he heroically endures the champagne on board, the armchairs that turn into beds and the enormous stress of choosing between salmon and filet mignon. Hard life. Not everyone can endure such burdens.

Football declares itself, at every congress, to be solidary, sustainable and concerned about the future of the planet. Then its boss crosses the continent twice a day so as not to miss a poorly executed corner in Vancouver. It is the kind of consistency that should be studied in textbooks of involuntary humor.

After all, FIFA is always talking about the development of football worldwide. But sometimes you get the impression that development is measured in the kilometers accumulated by the president.

The real performance would not be to watch two matches a day. It would be to stand still.

It would be a truly spectacular world record. For the planet, for common sense and, who knows, maybe even for a few thousand children who still believe that football is about the ball bouncing on the field, not about the private plane that jumps from one country to another.