Stunning figures show how far football supremo Gianni Infantino has travelled on his $100million...
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is taking dozens of flights on a private jet around Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific during the , leaving a huge carbon footprint in contrast to and the tournament's sustainability messages. legend Tim Cahill has joined the Swiss supremo for part of the ride, island-hopping through the Pacific to visit FIFA-funded projects. In three weeks, Infantino has travelled at least 40,000km - equivalent to a lap of the Earth - and clocked around 50 hours in the air, with more to come. Infantino touched down in New Zealand the day before the World Cup started and has kept a non-stop schedule since, taking in games and making side-trips to Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) members. FIFA's leader has pledged to visit all 10 World Cup host cities and all 11 OFC members, which he calls his 'Ocean's 11'. Infantino is flying around Australasia on a 13-seater Gulfstream G650-ER private jet operated by Qatar Executive, which online records suggest is worth up to $A100 million. Publicly-accessible travel records reveal his brutal schedule. The 53-year-old has taken at least 21 flights to watch matches in nine host cities so far, as well as a hop to Canberra to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He's also taken three separate swings through the Pacific, visiting Tahiti, Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji. He plans to complete the Oceanic set with travel to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia in the coming fortnight, alongside more matches. 'There are no big and no small countries in FIFA,' Infantino said on his visit to American Samoa, a US territory home to around 50,000 people, last week. Infantino has avoided commercial flights, even for travel inside Australia and New Zealand, in favour of the private jet, allowing him to stay flexible, often landing in or leaving cities within an hour of kick-offs or full-time. The longest flight so far has been a 5500km overnight flight from Perth to Vanuatu, with Cahill aboard. The legendary Socceroo is no stranger to the Pacific: his mother was born in Samoa and the striker's son Kyah has represented Samoa at youth level, as did Cahill before switching his allegiances to Australia. 'This is a country I'm very proud of, my mother's homeland,' Cahill said in a distributed video from his visit. 'It's special having Gianni here supporting football and helping the development of infrastructure.' OFC president Lambert Maltock said member countries 'were longing for such a visit from the FIFA president'. 'They mean a lot to thousands and thousands of young girls and boys in the remote islands of the Pacific who are given encouragement to play football and to hope that one day they too can shine on the world stage,' he said. FIFA argue Infantino's travel through the Pacific is easier done this month than by taking trips in and out of Zurich, and that all members deserve presidential visits. In the case of at least one country, the Cook Islands, Infantino's travel was the first time a FIFA leader has visited. Infantino became a figure of ridicule due to his infamous 'Today I feel gay ... Today I feel a migrant worker' , when he likened his own struggles as a boy of Italian parents living in Switzerland to the plight of migrant workers and LGBTQI people living in the Middle East. At his press conference in Auckland prior to the tournament, he referenced that speech by saying 'Today I feel tired because I just landed', a joke about his travel from Los Angeles, via Tahiti on the private jet. His extravagant travel stands in contrast to FIFA's messaging at stadiums hosting matches, which features 'educational football-themed green spaces' which tell fans 'When nature wins, we win'. The installations, built from recycled materials, offer sustainability tips such as 'catch public transport' and use your own water bottle. The private jet use is also at odds with Infantino's own pledge in 2016, when he succeeded disgraced president Sepp Blatter. 'The money of FIFA has to be used to develop football ... it's your money, not the money of the FIFA president,' Infantino told delegates at the 2016 Extraordinary Congress prior to his narrow election. The travel also calls into question FIFA's own climate pledges to minimise emissions. The private jet uses two Rolls-Royce engines that burn more than 1500 litres of fuel each hour it is in the air. Given the low frequency of commercial travel through the Pacific, the jet is the only way Infantino can meet his pledge to visit the 11 OFC nations alongside the World Cup. The 11 members of the OFC, the smallest and poorest of FIFA's six confederations, have supported Infantino's presidency since his first nomination. Per capita, they have been the biggest beneficiaries of one of Infantino's signature programs: the FIFA Forward program, a funding pool which gives each of the 211 members the same-sized grant. The first edition of FIFA Forward saw every country given $A1.5 million annually to spend on local projects, such as pitches, and football administration. Infantino has since swollen the pot to double that amount, meaning every OFC member will receive $A3 million this year. The huge investment is possible as Infantino has dramatically grown commercial revenues during his seven years in charge. Last month, Infantino said FIFA would be 'breaking even' for staging the 2023 Women's World Cup, with roughly $US500 million ($A763 million) in revenues and costs, including a record US$110 million ($A167 million) in prizemoney to players and associations.