FIFA president Gianni Infantino has accused the West of “hypocrisy” towards its reporting on issues in World Cup host nation Qatar.
Infantino gave a press conference on the eve of Qatar’s tournament opener against Ecuador and spoke for almost an hour before taking questions.
Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup has been tainted by criticism of the country’s record on human rights and treatment of migrant workers.
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“Today I have very strong feelings,” Infantino began. “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel (like) a migrant worker.
“I’m not Qatari, African, gay, disabled and I’m not really a migrant worker but I know what it means to be discriminated and bullied, as a foreign in a foreign country. As a child at school I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles. I was bullied for that.”
It is difficult to report exactly how many migrant workers have died in the 12 years since Qatar was awarded the World Cup rights, but the number is in the thousands.
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The vast majority of Qatar’s workforce is made up of more than two million migrant workers from countries such as India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
Infantino continued: “I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons.
“If Europe really care about the destiny of these people, they can create legal channels – like Qatar did — where a number of these workers can come to Europe to work. Give them some future, some hope.
“I have difficulties understanding the criticism. We have to invest in helping these people, in education and to give them a better future and more hope. We should all educate ourselves, many things are not perfect but reform and change takes time.
“This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no-one recognises the progress made here since 2016.”
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Infantino has previously spoken about migrant workers’ rights in Qatar. In May, the Swiss-Italian said that FIFA had helped give migrant workers “dignity and pride” through World Cup infrastructure projects.
He added that FIFA was “proud” to have “been able to change the conditions for these 1.5 million people”.
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Infantino, meanwhile, will stand unopposed for re-election for a third term as FIFA president next spring.
The next FIFA Congress will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, and FIFA confirmed on Thursday that Infantino has no challengers to the position he has occupied since 2016.
Infantino criticised for ‘deflection’ and ‘culture war’ tactics
Amnesty International criticised Infantino, accusing him of dismissing human rights criticisms and treating demands for equality as part of a “culture war”.
Responding to Infantino’s media address, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s head of economic and social justice, said: “In brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms, Gianni Infantino is dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers to make his flagship tournament possible – as well as FIFA’s responsibility for it.
“Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some sort of culture war – they are universal human rights that FIFA has committed to respect in its own statutes.
“If there is one tiny glimmer of hope, it is that Infantino announced that FIFA would establish a legacy fund after the World Cup. This cannot be mere window-dressing … it must make sure this fund is used to compensate workers and their families directly.”
Nicholas McGeehan, director of human rights organisation FairSquare, described Infantino’s comments as “as crass as they were clumsy” and said the tournament’s public relations strategy was “deflection and whataboutery”.
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(Photo: Getty Images)
