FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently joked that “no British fans were arrested at a World Cup,” suggesting this was a unique reflection of good behaviour. However, records show that while England and Wales fans did have very low arrest figures at recent World Cups, similar situations happened before, including at the 2010 tournament where no British supporters were recorded as being arrested.
Overall data from multiple World Cups show only a small number of arrests among tens of thousands of travelling fans, indicating that responsible supporter behaviour is more common than the joke implies. The statistics challenge the idea that the lack of arrests in one tournament was historically special.
Supporters’ groups and policing officials also responded to Infantino’s comment, describing it as inaccurate and saying that British fans generally behave well at major tournaments. They suggested that leaders should focus on concrete fan issues, like ticket pricing, rather than making light-hearted remarks about supporter conduct.
