Hakimi Apologises To Infantino After Heated Confrontation

Morocco star Achraf Hakimi apologised to FIFA president Gianni Infantino after a confrontation following his side’s defeat to Croatia.

The PSG defender had reportedly approached the FIFA president following Morocco’s 2-1 defeat to Croatia in the third place play-off at the World Cup. Hakimi was said to have voiced some strongly-worded opinions on the officiating throughout the tournament.

Speaking to the press, he now has said: “Nothing happened. I was angry after the end of the match. I went to talk to him, and I apologized for the words I said to him. He is my friend and I respect him a lot, so nothing happened”.

Most notably, Hakimi may have been frustrated after feeling as though his side should have won a penalty in the semi-final against France when Sofyan Boufal was challenged by Ibrahima Konate. The Atlas Lions were also hoping for a spot-kick against Croatia amid a possible handball when Youssef En-Nesyri’s header hit Bruno Petkovic.

While Hakimi may well have been furious with president Infantino in the heat of the moment, he won’t want to get on FIFA’s bad side with Morocco hoping to host the 2030 World Cup.