The president of the FIFAGianni Infantino, assures that Miami It has “definitely become the world capital of football.” He said it at noon on Monday, April 29, during the announcement of multiple agreements between the governing body of world soccer and Miami Dade College.
On the occasion of the celebration of 100 years of the construction of the Freedom Tower in July 2025, FIFA will inaugurate a special exhibition there with all the jewels that are currently in its headquarters, in the Museum in Zurich, Swiss.
“With the jewels of the FIFA Museum we are going to tell the history of world football in the Freedom Tower,” Infantino announced. “This continent (America) has done a lot for this sport and we are going to present an exhibition outside of Zurich for the first time.”
The exhibition, in addition to a series of reminder objects, will have numerous interactive and artificial intelligence resources so that fans can participate educationally in this story.
Together with the president of the MDC, Madeline Pumariega, they reported that the FIFA exhibition to celebrate the 100 years of the Freedom Tower is just one of the elements of collaboration between both institutions.
“There is also a scholarship program that we want to implement,” said Pumariega. “Now that FIFA is in Miami, students will be able to go to the headquarters (in Coral Gables) and have a valuable experience.”
Infantino highlighted that the MDC is a young and open university and, like FIFA, is committed to education as a way to self-improvement and freedom of individuals.
The meeting held at the Eduardo Padrón building of the MDC was attended by various personalities, including the mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of the City of Miami, Francis Suárez, the owner of Inter Miami, Jorge Mas, the former player of the rosanegros, Blasé Matuidi, the former president of US Soccer, Carlos Cordeiro, and the legendary World Cup player Teófilo Cubillas.
With the United States hosting the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and hosting the 2026 World Cup, FIFA opened offices in Coral Gables and moved more than 100 of its officials to Miami to work closely on these projects.
In addition, on May 17 at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, the host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be decided and the United States and Mexico have joined forces to apply.
Meanwhile, Infantino himself and his family moved to Miami to lead these projects.
“Miami is a cosmopolitan city, with open doors, it is special, vibrant and young,” Infantino explained. “And just like the United States, it has a lot to offer the rest of the world.”
Infantino’s words:
Immediately afterwards, the FIFA president dedicated a few words to Jorge Mas and said that thanks to Inter Miami and Leo Messi, the name of Miami is currently on the lips of the entire world.
Infantino also highlighted the presence of Cubillas, one of the greatest scorers in the history of the World Cup and who resides in south Florida.
Infantino was very moved by the history of the Freedom Tower, which in the 1960s welcomed more than half a million Cubans who were desperately fleeing the communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
“This story moves me a lot because I am the son of Italian immigrants who went to Switzerland in search of a better future,” said the manager. “Thanks to effort and work I was able to achieve my dreams like many of the people who came to the United States.”
Finally, Infantino said that it was an honor to hand over the World Cup to Messi in 2022.
