Infantino secret revealed?

ZDF commentator Réthy has a curious TV theory about the FIFA boss

Created: 04/12/2022, 14:31

By: Hannes Niemeyer

It is not surprising that Gianni Infantino is omnipresent as FIFA boss at the World Cup.

But can he be in two places almost simultaneously?

ZDF commentator Bélà Réthy has a theory.

Doha – The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has one advantage, if you will: the distances are actually not far.

After all, the land area of ​​Qatar is smaller than Schleswig-Holstein.

Compared to the Europe-wide EM 2021, where there was a short jet from Azerbaijan to England, so everything was a piece of cake.

That certainly makes it possible to attend a lot of games, even if they're tightly timed.

It's difficult to be in two games at the same time, unless your name is Gianni Infantino.

The FIFA boss is probably the most controversial person in the current World Cup - not least because of the scandal surrounding the "One Love" armband, which also directly affected the DFB selection.

As head of the world association, it is natural for Infantino to be there live at as many games as possible.

However, his appearance in the stadium on Friday in the last games of the group stage caused a stir, as tz.de also writes.

Or better: His stadium appearances.

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Infantino live everywhere at the 2022 World Cup?

ZDF man Réthy makes his statement on TV

When two Group G games were fought for a ticket to the round of 16 at the same time on Friday evening, the TV pictures showed Infantino in the stands in the first half of the Brazil-Cameroon game.

15 minutes after the start of the second half, the FIFA boss then flickered across the screens in the stadium during the game between Serbia and Switzerland.

Magic, TV trick or does Infantino simply change stadiums faster than US stars change their outfits at award ceremonies?

The absurdity was not hidden from ZDF man Bélà Réthy.

He made up his own theory.

Réthy commented on the Confederates' game on ZDF and also reacted immediately to the Infantino overlay.

"I think it's in every game," he began, but then added: "Or they now have a picture of him in the control room where they cut him in every time, I don't know now.

But you definitely see him in every game."

Strange theory, but there might actually be something to it.

Because the broadcasters receive a uniform signal from on site, which FIFA provides.

Thus, for example, ZDF has no influence on the director's decisions.

Gianni Infantino playing Brazil vs Cameroon.

Just a few minutes earlier, he is said to have been in the stadium for the game between Serbia and Switzerland.

© IMAGO/Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock

Magic, TV trick - or just a change of stadium?

That's the essence of Infantino's omnipresence

So is there anything to Réthy's theory?

Such an approach at the World Cup in Qatar always seems possible.

But there are also other explanations.

For one thing, there are photos of Infantino that at least prove that he was there for the Brazil game – although that wouldn't rule out the possibility that the FIFA boss might just have been cut into the picture at the other game.

However, Infantino could also have simply made the Beckenbauer.

Back then, as organizer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Kaiser traveled by helicopter from game to game in order to experience as many games as possible live on site.

And as already mentioned at the beginning, the distances in Qatar are known to be short.

The shortest car route shown by Google Maps between Lusail Stadium and Stadium 974 – the venues for yesterday's parallel evening games –

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While the TV world is puzzling over Infantino, the DFB has to work through its own problems after being eliminated from the preliminary round again.

In a scheduled crisis meeting, Oliver Bierhoff will be the focus.

The criticism of the German team is great.

ZDF expert Per Mertesacker also expressed an accusation of arrogance.

His expert colleague Christoph Kramer meanwhile reacted angrily to a question from moderator Müller-Hohenstein.