February 17 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino was presented with a Lebanese passport at the Interior Ministry in Beirut on Monday, several months after being granted citizenship by the country’s president.
Married to Lina al-Ashkar, who is from the Middle Eastern state, Infantino can now also claim to be Lebanese. He filed documents and had his fingerprints taken.
On Instagram, Infantino wrote: “It was my honour to be in Beirut to receive my Lebanese passport from the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.
“My sincere thanks to ministry of interior and Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar for this special honour, and to President Hachem Haidar and Secretary General Jihad El-Chohof for being present for this special moment. I love Lebanon and am at home in this beautiful country.”
It was an exceptional measure as Lebanese woman cannot pass their citizenship to foreign husbands. Lebanese men who marry foreign women can automatically grant their nationality to their children, and their wives may apply for citizenship after completing a specified period of marriage.
On his last visits to Lebanon, the FIFA President promised that Zurich would fund the construction of a new national stadium in the country.
Infantino also holds citizenship of both Switzerland and Italy.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1771515855labto1771515855ofdlr1771515855owedi1771515855sni@i1771515855tnuk.1771515855ardni1771515855mas1771515855