FIFA President Infantino Accepts Apology from Morocco’s Hakimi After World Cup Clash

Disappointed and frustrated after the lost match against Croatia for third place, Achraf Hakimi had held referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim responsible for this defeat and had also firmly complained to Gianni Infantino on the way to the locker room before apologizing later. "Nothing happened, I was furious, but I went to see him afterwards and I apologized for the words I said to him," Hakimi told the press about the incident. Infantino is my friend and I respect him a lot. Nothing happened."

The FIFA president seems to have accepted the apologies of the Moroccan right-back. He returned to the incident. "And he came and he apologized for what he did," Infantino told the Qatari sports channel Al Kass. "And in the heat of the action, you might say things you don’t mean."

The FIFA boss also praised the historic and laudable journey of the Atlas Lions at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. "Morocco played very good football, and we must praise Morocco’s performance," he said, congratulating Hakimi, Ziyech, Bono and all the other players, not forgetting the national team coach Walid Regragui. "They represented, in a way, two continents, because they represented the Arab world and Africa," he added. And they qualified for the semi-finals, which some found surprising, but only if you didn’t know the experiences of the players and the coach."