FIFA president Infantino celebrates in Beirut after receiving a Lebanese passport
BEIRUT (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino received his Lebanese passport at the Interior Ministry in Beirut on Monday, months after he was granted citizenship by the country’s president.
Infantino, who is married to Lebanese citizen Lina al-Ashkar, thanked President Joseph Aoun when he received him Monday for granting him and his family Lebanese citizenship.
The meeting with Aoun took place after Infantino visited the Interior Ministry where her performed the official process of filing documents, being photographed and having his fingerprints taken before he was handed a copy of his new blue Lebanese passport.
Infantino also has Italian and Swiss citizenship.
“I’m very proud and very happy to be here in Beirut at the Ministry of Interior to finally get my Lebanese passport,” Infantino said in a video carried by local TV stations. “I love Lebanon.”
According to Lebanese law, Lebanese women cannot pass their citizenship on to their foreign husbands and children. In Infantino’s case, he got the citizenship because Aoun granted it to him.
On the contrary, Lebanese men married to foreign women automatically pass their nationality to their children while their wives take it after a certain period of time that follows the marriage.
FIFA is the international soccer governing body.