FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has apologised to British fans after a major backlash against a joke about their behaviour.
Swiss Infantino outraged supporter groups during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
The Fifa President, referring to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said: “For the first time in history, also, no Brit was arrested during a World Cup.
“Imagine. This is something really, really special.”
Infantino’s comment unleashed a storm of protest, with the Football Supporters Association slamming him and adding: “He should concentrate on making cheap tickets rather than making cheap jokes about our fans.”
But now Infantino has rowed back, insisting: “It was meant to be more of a light heartened remark, to show that the World Cup in Qatar was a celebration, it was a peaceful event.”
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Infantino, 55, said sorry to fans from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, adding that it was “not my intention” to cause offence.
He also said he was a “huge fan of English football” and had been wrong to say English people “just go and riot around the world” at football matches as fans, referring to them as “criminals” instead.
The change of tone came as Infantino dismissed the prospect of a boycott of this year’s World Cup – and opened the door to Russia’s readmission to global football.
Russia was banned from the play-offs for the 2022 tournament following the country’s invasion of Ukraine while Fifa has come under pressure to impose a similar sanction on Israel.
But Infantino suggested that Russian youth sides should be allowed to play competitively again as the first step in the country’s return to the international stage.
Talking to Sky News, he said: “We have to look at lifting this ban, definitely.
“Because this ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred.
“Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help.”
Describing the idea of a ban for Israel as “a defeat”, Infantino went on: “We should enshrine in our statutes that we should actually never ban any country from playing football because of the acts of their political leaders.
“Somebody needs to keep the ties open.
“There is never any call for boycotts by businesses or on diplomatic levels, so why football?
“In our divided world, in our aggressive world, we need occasions where people can come, can meet around the passion for football.”
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