Brazen, mendacious – Infantino
The most dangerous man in world football
A comment by David Needy
01/26/2022, 7:45 p.m
Once again Gianni Infantino irritated. The FIFA boss spreads dangerous half-truths about Qatar and demeaning and fateful ideas about Africa and refugees. It can’t go on like this, Infantino’s words do damage.
He is Europe’s guardian of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. He wants to protect and encourage them. No, of course we are not talking about Gianni Infantino, but about the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. But the FIFA President spoke before Europe’s leading human rights organization – and showed once again that he shouldn’t lead the world football association for a second longer. His statements in Strasbourg are not only insulting and irritating, but also extremely dangerous.
First, Infantino defended the next World Cup hosts Qatar. The emirate that still tramples on various human rights. Which the Swiss are only too happy to flatter. Where he recently even moved his residence in an extremely symbolic gesture. Apparently, the head of the world football association now sees himself as the personal advocate of the unjust state, because of all places Infantino wanted to “put things straight” before the Council of Europe and emphasized that the working conditions there are comparable to those in Europe.
Infantino endangers human rights work
Infantino brazenly questions the work of numerous human rights organizations. His statements are a slap in the face to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many others. This makes their work, which repeatedly uncovers the still intact slavery-like “kafala system” of employers in Qatar, even more difficult. In fact, Infantino’s words are extremely dangerous, because now migrant workers can be exploited and abused in the richest country in the world, even with the legitimacy of the Fifa boss. Infantino echoes unfiltered the rhetoric of Qatar’s rulers, which he knows has often been debunked.
It is “simply not true” when reports of 6,500 dead workers on the World Cup construction sites are reported, says Infantino. Well, nobody does either. The Swiss twists the facts in a naive and dangerous way. Because at the beginning of last year, the “Guardian” revealed that 6,500 workers in Qatar have died from heat, sudden cardiac death or overwork since the World Cup was awarded. Not all of the deceased (according to official figures from the Qatari government there are now 15,000 dead guest workers) worked on the stadium construction sites, but that’s not the point. It is about systematic abuse that willingly accepts the loss of human life. Infantino also does this if it supports this system.
The FIFA boss says that only three people died on the construction site of the World Cup stadium. That too is wrong. According to human rights organizations, there have been 36 deaths on the construction sites so far, and the cause of death of 18 of these people has still not been named. While Infantino admits “there is still a lot to change” in Qatar, “change” for the better is taking place and this is a “football’s merit”. However, that is also not true. In the eleven years since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar, working conditions have only changed on paper. As human rights organizations confirm, workers are suffering more than ever before.
A World Cup that saves lives?
The myth of “change through football” is also dangerous in view of Infantino’s statements about Africa and the World Cup he wants to be held every two years. “We must give hope to Africans so that they no longer have to come across the Mediterranean to perhaps find a better life or, more likely, death at sea.” It is actually inconceivable that the head of one of the largest and most powerful sports organizations in the world would pronounce these sentences – and even before the Council of Europe.
First of all: Africa is a continent with 55 countries, almost one and a half billion people and between 1200 and 2000 languages just south of the Sahara. To speak of “the Africans” as a homogeneous mass in need of hope shows ignorance and is not worthy of a leader. Different countries and people in Africa need different things. Just like anywhere else in the world. But they certainly don’t need the charity and mercy of the FIFA President, nor (additional) World Cups.
On the one hand, Infantino is once again dangerously exaggerating the power of football. As if his plans for additional World Cup tournaments could save lives. On the other hand, the numerous and true reasons for fleeing, problems and the suffering and death of people on site and on the run are belittled, diminished and ridiculed by his words. If someone wants to know what refugees really need, he or she should ask them. Here, too, the Swiss complicates the work of aid organizations with his words.
The white savior Infantino
Infantino, however, completely lacks humility towards the people of Africa and, in a colonialist manner, denies them the ability to act. Ugandans, Congolese or Algerians have done a lot to improve their countries and they continue to do so. A football World Cup has absolutely nothing to do with it, the very thought is brimming with ignorance.
The FIFA boss unknowingly unmasks his “White Savior Complex”. The African continent has served as the backdrop for this type of white hero fantasies for centuries. Presumably, Infantino hardly cares about the people in Africa, their fates or their actions. The head of the world association is about money, it’s about establishing a great emotional legacy that confirms his power and privilege.
Criticism seems to routinely drip off Gianni Infantino, as if he had built a bulletproof glass ball around himself for this purpose. The Swiss will not change and will smile again at the next press conference as if nothing had happened. But as a FIFA boss, his words have power. His words are dangerous and cause harm. Not only the Council of Europe should react in horror.