Just hours before the start of the Fifa World Cup 2022 held in Qatar, Fifa president Gianni Infantino took to the centre stage to call out on Western Media coverage terming it as Racist and Hypocritical.
The Swiss-Italian Football administrator expressed his disappointment after the report on Qatar’s Human Rights record aired on the eve of the World Cup kick-off.
In a news conference held in Doha on Saturday, November 19, Infantino made a bizarre speech for about an hour, openly defending Qatar and the tournament.
The event had been concealed by the Qatar migrant workers’ deaths and the abusive treatment of the LGBTQ community.
The Fifa President born in Switzerland, called out on European countries, saying they should apologize to the world for all the vices they committed instead of pointing fingers at Qatar.
“Today I have strong feelings, I feel Qatari, I feel Arabic, I feel Gay, I feel African, I feel disabled, I feel migrant worker” Infantino noted in his speech opening.
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The Guardian released a report in February 2021, indicating 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka lost their lives in Qatar since selected to host World Cup 2022.
The figures reported were according to the countries’ embassy in Qatar. However, Qatar denies these allegations saying the numbers are mysterious since government records only show 37 workers who died in World Cup construction accidents, a report denied by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The Fifa president went ahead and said: “We have been taught many lessons from Europeans and the Western world. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons.
“If Europe cares 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 take time.
“This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no one recognizes the progress made here since 2016.
“It is not easy to take the critics of a decision that was made 12 years ago. Qatar is ready. It will be the best World Cup ever.
“I don’t have to defend Qatar, they can defend themselves. I defend football. Qatar has made progress and I feel many other things as well.
“Of course, I am not Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled, or a migrant worker. But I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated against and bullied as a foreigner in a foreign country.
Infantino also said Fifa’s Qatar 2022 legacy fund will go into education, signing an agreement that will help 25 million children and women in India.
Hosts Qatar kick off the tournament against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday at 7 pm.
Also Read: Qatar Dreams Big for This Year’s World Cup
