FIFA President Infantino denied motorcade by NZ Police.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JULY 16: FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the Concacaf Gold Cup final match between Mexico and Panama at SoFi Stadium on July 16, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was denied a police escort by the New Zealand Police with the excuse that it is against their standard operating procedures. Is this a testament of “When you go to Rome, do what Romans do?”

“The New Zealand police received a request” for a police escort but that it “was declined after assessing it against standard operating procedures”. A police spokesperson clarified.

It’s a norm in New Zealand where they only reserve motorcade for Heads of States and foreign dignitaries.

The lack of police escorts in New Zealand was also applied to players – and was joked about by New Zealand captain Ali Riley when the team was caught in traffic and arrived just before the kick-off of their first match.

“I don’t know if anyone outside the team knows this, but we were so late to the game,” Riley said. “There was such bad traffic … I guess there were no police escorts,” she said. At one point, the team heard sirens and thought a police escort had arrived – but the patrol car passed on its way to another call”