There was one man who seemed almost impossible to avoid during the 2026 World Cup.

Whenever the TV cameras moved away from the field and into the VIP seats, there was a strong chance Gianni Infantino would appear on screen, often watching intently, applauding a goal or chatting away to one of the powerful figures sitting beside him.

For readers and viewers unfamiliar with soccer’s governing bodies, Infantino is the president of FIFA, the organization responsible for running the World Cup and overseeing international soccer.

The Swiss-Italian administrator was first elected FIFA president in February 2016 and has since become one of the most recognizable executives in world sports.

But his frequent television appearances in the VIP Box during the tournament were not the result of Fox Sports deciding to remind everyone of who runs FIFA.

Why every World Cup broadcaster shows the same pictures

The main television coverage of World Cup matches is produced centrally rather than independently by each national broadcaster, which makes sense if you think about.

FIFA distributed the pictures to hundreds of television channels and digital platforms around the world. There’s no way they could each have a full production operation inside the stadium.

Instead Host Broadcast Services, generally known as HBS, produces the official international feed from each game. The company has served as host broadcaster at every men’s World Cup since the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.

That feed is then distributed to rights-holding networks around the world.

Fox Sports can add its own commentators, graphics, studio coverage and analysis for viewers in the United States, but the basic match pictures largely come from the same HBS production seen by audiences in Britain, Spain, Argentina and dozens of other countries.

That means when the international feed cuts to Infantino in the stands, viewers across much of the world see him at roughly the same moment.

FIFA’s “dignitary shot” rule

The reason Infantino appears so often lies in FIFA’s broadcast guidelines. Reports say HBS is expected to include at least one so-called “dignitary shot” during each half of a World Cup match. These shots feature the most senior officials and prominent guests attending the game.

FIFA’s accreditation system places the most important guests in a category known as VVIPs, or “Very, Very Important People.”

That group may include heads of state, senior soccer officials, members of royal families and internationally known public figures.

As FIFA president, Infantino is generally the highest-ranking soccer official in attendance. He also traveled extensively during the tournament, attending a large number of matches and frequently appearing alongside political leaders, federation presidents and former players.

As a result, even a general instruction to show important dignitaries makes Infantino one of the most obvious people for the broadcast director to select.

FIFA has denied that broadcasters are given a special order specifically requiring them to show its president, describing suggestions that Infantino is personally favored as misleading. The distinction is that the formal requirement reportedly concerns senior dignitaries rather than Infantino by name.

In practice, however, the identity of the most senior dignitary is rarely difficult to determine.

The reported ban on showing Infantino on his phone

The way Infantino is shown may also be carefully managed.

During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, television directors were reportedly instructed to show the FIFA president during matches, but not when he was looking at his phone.

The apparent purpose was to present him as an engaged and enthusiastic spectator rather than someone distracted from the game.

Camera operators could therefore wait until Infantino was applauding, reacting to an incident or speaking animatedly with another guest before using the shot.

There is no public confirmation that the same phone instruction remained formally in place for the 2026 tournament. However, the reports from Qatar offer an insight into how closely controlled apparently spontaneous crowd shots can be.

Why Infantino may not appear on the stadium screens

There is also an important difference between the pictures shown to television audiences and those displayed inside the stadium.

Reports during the World Cup suggested that stadium directors sometimes avoided putting Infantino on the venue’s giant screens because doing so could provoke loud booing from supporters.

Those boos would then be audible on the international broadcast, creating an embarrassing moment for FIFA and its president.

Infantino was nevertheless booed alongside U.S. President Donald Trump during the trophy presentation following the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, which Spain won, to seal their second World Cup triumph after 2010.

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