Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, received his Lebanese passport on Monday at Lebanon’s Interior Ministry in Beirut, according to the Associated Press. The handover came months after President Joseph Aoun granted Infantino citizenship.
AP reported that Infantino met officials at the Interior Ministry, filed documents, and underwent a process that included having a photograph and fingerprints taken before he was handed the passport. AP also reported that Infantino’s citizenship status includes Italy and Switzerland.
Infantino said he was pleased to receive the document, with a video of the moment carried by local TV stations. In the video, he told viewers: “I’m very proud and very happy to be here in Beirut at the Ministry of Interior to finally get my Lebanese passport,” and added, “I love Lebanon.”
The passport development also intersects with Lebanon’s nationality rules. AP said Lebanese women normally cannot pass their citizenship to foreign husbands and their children under Lebanese law, but Aoun made an exception for Infantino and for his family members.
AP further described how Lebanon’s citizenship transfer rules differ by gender. It said Lebanese men married to foreign women automatically pass their nationality to their children, while their wives become eligible for citizenship after being married for a certain period of time. FIFA is the international soccer governing body.