Bizarre performance by the FIFA boss
“Shameful” Infantino sparks outrage and opposition
11/20/2022, 1:12 p.m
The strange appearance of FIFA President Gianni Infantino continues to have an impact. Contradiction was raised, especially from Europe, after the Swiss threw himself into the breach for World Cup hosts Qatar. There are even suspicions that Infantino is getting his arguments directly from the Qatari authorities.
The international outcry had hardly died down when Gianni Infantino made the next bizarre appearance. Just hours after his memorable press conference, the controversial FIFA President hailed the crowd on the stage at the Doha Fan Festival with shouts of “Ole, Ole”. The massive criticism apparently left him cold. “He’s gone too far,” FIFA critic Lise Klaveness told CNN. “It’s a bit dangerous to polarize West versus East.” And FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan said Infantino’s statements “suggested that the FIFA President is getting his arguments directly from the Qatari authorities”.
In a monologue that lasted exactly one hour, Infantino launched a bizarre sweeping attack on his critics on Saturday. The treatment of the World Cup hosts is hypocritical, racist and unfair. “This one-sided moral sermon is pure hypocrisy,” he told the 400 or so journalists in Doha. Against the background of Qatar’s own history, condemnations from the western world are inappropriate. “For what we Europeans have done in the past 3,000 years, we should apologize for the next 3,000 years before we start giving people moral lessons,” argued the controversial World Federation head.
Qatar offers migrant workers “a perspective,” Infantino said. “We all know that there is illegal work in Europe. If you really cared about the fate of these people, what Qatar is doing offers opportunities. Legal opportunities. Give them jobs, give them security.” Amnesty International sharply criticized Infantino for this. “By brushing aside legitimate criticism of human rights abuses, he is disparaging the enormous price migrant workers have paid to make his flagship project possible,” said spokesman Steve Cockburn. By declaring “a kind of culture war”, FIFA is also evading its responsibility.
Danish association: FIFA refuses to dialogue
Klaveness took this line as well. According to the head of the Norwegian association, Infantino’s monologue showed that he was under pressure. “The criticism is justified,” affirmed the Scandinavian: “Not at Qatar per se, but at FIFA and the international football associations.” Denmark’s sports director Peter Möller also made a clear statement. “When I saw the FIFA President yesterday, I was shocked. And at that moment I was ashamed to be a part of this event,” said the former international at the Danes’ World Cup base. “I found it shameful. This is the man who shapes the image of football and who could actually show what football can do,” said Möller.
Specifically, the former FC Copenhagen and FC Fulham professional accused FIFA of not having a serious interest in a debate about the situation in Qatar and of alienating football further and further from its supporters in this way. “I can only speak for the Danish FA,” said the 50-year-old. “For months before this World Cup, we tried to influence FIFA and the situation in Qatar behind the scenes.”
There was hardly a topic that Infantino didn’t tackle in his sweeping attack. He also condemned media reports about allegedly “bought” fan parades in the run-up to the World Cup finals as xenophobic. “This is racism, pure racism – it has to stop. Everyone in the world has the right to be for whoever,” said the 52-year-old and asked: “Can someone who looks like an Indian not for Germany or be Spain?”
“More and more fans turning away”
It was only on Friday that DFB President Bernd Neuendorf (“irritated and disturbed”) clearly distanced himself from the FIFA boss. The construction work for the World Cup stadiums and the additional infrastructure are said to have cost the lives of thousands of migrant workers. In the run-up to the World Cup, the human rights situation in Qatar and the lack of rights for women and the LGBTQ community were also denounced.
Infantino claimed LGBTQ rights in Qatar would be protected during the World Cup – and oddly expressed solidarity with just about every group. “Today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arabic, today I feel African, today I feel gay, today I feel disabled, today I feel like a guest worker,” said the native of Switzerland – and reaped the rewards in the fully occupied congress center from Doha, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Danish sporting director Möller said he was “concerned about the future of FIFA and football in general,” given his experience of the tournament in Qatar so far. There are “more and more people – inside and outside of football – who say: Is that really what we want? You see more and more fans turning away from football.”