FIFA president Gianni Infantino ‘has already left the Women’s World Cup after less than a WEEK to go to Tahiti’ after he attended part of every game at the men’s tournament in Qatar

Gianni Infantino said the Women’s World Cup needed the same respect as the men’s equivalent – before jetting off to Tahiti after less than a week of the tournament.

The FIFA president, 53, had been in New Zealand for the start of the 32-team tournament, like he was in Qatar for the opening of the 2022 World Cup.

However, while Infantino decided to remain in the Middle East for the whole of the men’s tournament, attending every match, he has decided to use his personal jet to travel to Tahiti during the action of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Sky News reported that the FIFA boss had skipped four matchdays of the ongoing tournament, even after calling for it to be shown the same respect as the men’s World Cup. 

His jet returned to Tahiti on Tuesday, having been on the French Polynesian island before the tournament began. 

The FIFA president said the women should get the same respect as their male counterparts

Infantino’s Instagram account continues to post official images from matches, despite the fact he left New Zealand on Tuesday. 

He has since posted footage of his time in Tahiti, meeting the national Beach Soccer team which is preparing for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup  in UAE.

FIFA would not even say when Infantino was due back at the tournament, which ends on 20 August. 

The distances involved in Australia and New Zealand made it impossible for him to attend every match, but he has not attended a single match in the former country.

He has not visited Australia since the country was awarded the tournament co-hosting rights in 2020.  

Infantino has set a target for both the women’s and men’s World Cups to offer equal pay by 2027, although such plans are likely to be undermined when even the president cannot be bothered to remain at the event. 

The 2022 Men’s World Cup saw £365m made available to the 32 teams taking part, while the ongoing Women’s World Cup has a prize pot of just £125m. 

Infantino posted on his Instagram about meeting Tahiti’s male beach soccer players

It comes despite his request that the Women’s World Cup is treated with equal respect

FIFA cannot confirm when the president will return to see the rest of the Women’s World Cup

When hitting out at broadcasters for low-balling TV rights to the Women’s World Cup, Infantino said: ‘Women deserve much, much more than that and we are there to fight for them and with them’.

Earlier this week, he was proud to celebrate the sale of 1.5 million tickets across the whole tournament. 

Infantino said: ‘I would really like to express a huge thank you to New Zealand and to Australia for hosting us here.

‘We often say that football unites the world. New Zealand and Australia are uniting the world Down Under.’