At the Fifa Congress, the association president distances himself from a central reform project. Norway’s head of the association, Lise Klaveness, sharply criticizes the friendly treatment of World Cup hosts Qatar.
Above all, Lise Klaveness criticized Fifa’s handling of the 2022 World Cup and its host country Qatar.
Lise Klaveness dared to disturb the group of men. The 72nd Fifa Congress in Qatar was almost over on Thursday, the delegates were looking forward to dinner or to the soccer game with former stars in the afternoon. Then the president of the Norwegian association took the floor.
Klaveness, who had won 73 caps before becoming the first woman in her federation’s history to take over the top post, recalled discussions about a boycott of the upcoming World Cup. One should not ignore the critics of the November and December event in Qatar, she said. It is important to take care of the construction workers who were injured on the construction sites there, as well as the relatives of those who died.
“Fifa must do everything in its power to bring about change,” Klaveness said. There should be no more room for companies that do not guarantee the freedom and security of their workers. “I fear our stadiums will be empty in the future if we ignore the urgency to act.”
After the head-on attack on the leaders of the football world, Congress came to life. “It’s not the right time to discuss these things,” countered José Ernesto Mejía, Secretary General of the Honduran federation. “This is about football. We shouldn’t lose focus.”
Hassan al-Thawadi followed. The General Secretary of the World Cup Organizing Committee spoke in an emotional response of prejudice, assumption and lack of understanding. Qatar has historical reforms behind it. The previous speaker should have informed herself better.
breaking with conventions
Norwegian Klaveness broke with several conventions at the Doha Convention Center. Not only did she cast doubt on the narrative that global attention has transformed Qatar profoundly; Fifa President Gianni Infantino, who lives part-time in the emirate, wants to be able to witness “seismic changes”, from the introduction of a minimum wage to protective measures against the heat.
But Klaveness also chose a public forum for their criticism, which was the real affront. So far, it has been taken for granted in Fifa that there were no arguments during the congress. This was done behind closed doors, if at all. Up until now, transparency has only been a catchphrase in expensive glossy brochures in world football’s governing body.
Nothing had kept the footballing world more busy in recent months than Infantino’s lobbying efforts for the project to host the World Cup every two years, twice as often as before. The idea had met with resistance, there would have been a need to speak. But at the congress in Qatar the topic was not even on the agenda.
On Wednesday, one day before the event with all member associations, the Council, Fifa’s smaller and more powerful decision-making body, had already met. Here Infantino would have had a chance to promote the idea to his most important fellow officials.
The non-public meeting at the elegant Ritz-Carlton lasted only an hour. Infantino’s Canadian deputy Vittorio Montagliani then told the NZZ that doubling the World Cup rhythm had not been discussed. There was also no general debate about the tournament calendar.
No changes to the schedule: Gianni Infantino is pulling back from his plan to hold the World Cup every two years for the time being.
Infantino avoided an open confrontation in Doha. The resistance that had formed in the previous weeks, especially in the European associations, was obviously too broad for him. “We Europeans insisted on our principles beforehand,” said Romanian Council member Razvan Burleanu on Wednesday evening. He accused the supporters of the reform idea of not having considered that doubling the World Cup rhythm would have had a negative impact on women’s and youth football.
In the end, Infantino had to see the matter, Burleanu said. He is also strictly against the downstream idea of reducing the number of international breaks in which national club football rests. The former coach and current Fifa lobbyist Arsène Wenger had also advocated this reform and suggested extending the international game phases.
None of this came up at the Congress. Instead, Infantino announced that they would now allow plenty of time for further discussions about possible changes to the tournament calendar. The Fifa President thanked Wenger, who had been committed to World Cup reform for months. With a petrified expression, the Frenchman sat in one of the first rows and took note of the developments without a word.
Russian becomes FIFA language
In his speech, Infantino expressed his regret and sympathy over the war in Ukraine. “Innocent people suffer and die,” he said. Football cannot solve the world’s problems, but at least it can give hope. Once again, he categorically avoided calling Russia an aggressor; in the end, his statements remained vague.
It was fitting that the Russian association is still not blocked by Fifa. World football’s governing body banned Russian teams from ongoing competitions a few days after the start of the war after opposing teams had threatened boycotts. But the officials, some of whom may be close to Vladimir Putin, remain unpunished. A Russian delegation, led by Secretary General Alexander Alayev, was in Doha.
The officials were able to experience that, of all times, at this politically sensitive moment, their mother tongue Russian, together with Portuguese and Arabic, was declared the official Fifa language. The delegates also unanimously agreed to this symbolic step.