FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the President of World Athletics Lord Sebastian Coe have held talks in Paris, France, amid the ongoing 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Lord Coe is in the French capital as athletics becomes one of the main attractions of the final week of the Paris Games along with the gold medal matches of the Olympic Football Tournaments, which take place on Friday (men’s) and Saturday (women’s). Mr Infantino was at the Stade de France on Sunday to see the athletics action, including a dramatic men’s 100 metres final, and he and Lord Coe agreed the sports they lead can have a significant positive impact on the world.

“It was my privilege to welcome the President of World Athletics and two-time Olympic champion, Lord Sebastian Coe, to the FIFA Office in Paris,” said the FIFA President. “One of the most decorated middle-distance runners of all time, Lord Coe understands the role sports can play in society, and it was great to exchange ideas on how all sport, including football, can change the lives of so many. “We further spoke about the great power sports has in uniting people through excellence, as we saw during Sunday’s thrilling Men’s 100m final at Stade de France, and I congratulated President Coe on what has been a fantastic athletics competition of Paris 2024 so far.”

Lord Coe echoed those sentiments: “I have often said that athletics and football are the world’s most universal sports. They are practiced by billions of people across the globe and are an important piece of many countries’ national fabric. “Our sports have a way of uniting the world like no others, and as their leaders, we both know the responsibility we have to make them as accessible as possible and to use them as a force for good. “I took the opportunity to sit down with my friend and colleague Gianni in Paris this week to discuss how we can combine forces and work together to use our sports to impact society for the better.”