AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — “What’s going on here is profoundly, profoundly unjust.”
Those were the passionate words of Gianni Infantino on the eve of the kickoff of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But FIFA’s president wasn’t talking about persistent reports of exploitation and unsafe working conditions afflicting the country’s huge migrant worker population, or the well-documented allegations of corruption in the process by which the small Persian Gulf state was awarded hosting rights to this tournament.No, Infantino was referring to the criticism of Qatar and FIFA, as he mounted a defiant, accusatory defense of both in an hour-long monologue at the start of a press conference at the World Cup media centre on Doha’s outskirts.“Today I have very strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker. And I feel all this because what I’ve been seeing and what I’ve been told, since I don’t read, otherwise I would be depressed, I think,” began Infantino, referring to widespread critical reporting around this World Cup.Comparing Qatar’s reliance on low-cost labor imported from developing nations to his own experiences as the son of Italian migrants who moved to Switzerland in search of opportunity when he was a child, Infantino suggested that past abuses of those workers have been addressed since he took office in 2016.“When I came to Doha the first time after I was elected FIFA president, I went to see some of these workers’ accommodations here, and I was brought back to my childhood. And I said to the people here in Qatar, ‘this is not good, this is not right, we need to do something about it,’” he said, after claiming to have experienced persecution in his own right when his Swiss counterparts mocked his red hair, freckles and imperfect German language skills in his youth.“And the same as Switzerland today has become an example of inclusion, of tolerance, of nationalities working together – with rights – Qatar has made progress as well.“So I wonder why nobody recognize the progress that has been made since 2016 – the kafala system was abolished, minimum wage was introduced, heat protection measures were taken. ILO (International Labour Organization), international unions, acknowledged that. … some don’t.”Infantino, who last winter relocated his primary residence to Qatar in advance of this tournament, went on to label European critics as hypocrites, even taunting his adversaries in the media that they would have to deal with him for another four years in the wake of his unopposed reelection earlier in the week.He also defended the host nation’s laws banning homosexuality as not dissimilar to those found on the books in many other places around the world, insisting that all would be welcomed at the monthlong event that kicks off on Sunday.“I am European,” he said. “I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.“I don’t have to defend in any way whatsoever Qatar, they can defend themselves. I’m defending football here, and injustice,” he added. “Who is actually caring about the workers? Who? FIFA does. Football does. The World Cup does. And to be fair to them, Qatar does as well.”
In a comparison that clearly shocked many among the gathered ranks of journalists from around the world, Infantino praised Qatar’s handling of migrant laborers – who have built the vast infrastructure that has made this unprecedented World Cup possible — as preferable to his home continent’s wary response to the waves of refugees arriving on its shores from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere since 2015.“Hundreds of thousands of workers from developing countries come here, they earn 10 times more than what they earn in their home country, and help their families to survive. And they did it in a legal way,” said the FIFA boss. “We in Europe, we close our borders and we don’t allow practically any workers from these countries, who earn obviously very low income, to work legally in our country. Because we all know there are many illegal workers in our European countries, living in conditions which are also not really the best.“So those who reach Europe, or those who want to go to Europe, they have to go through a very difficult journey, only a few survive. So if you would really care about the destiny of these people, of these young people, well, then Europe could also do as Qatar did, create some channels – legal channels – to at least a number, a percentage of these workers who come to Europe … give them some work, give them some future, give them some hope.”Infantino also fielded a range of questions from the press, in which he denied that FIFA have ceded control of major decisions like a last-minute move to rescind beer sales in and around World Cup stadiums in light of Qatar’s strict restrictions on alcohol. He also defended Iran’s continued participation in the tournament amid violent, deadly crackdowns on women-led protests in that nation, and FIFA’s decision not to approve the rainbow-themed armbands some national teams are planning to wear in support of LGBTQ+ communities.“I hope that I’ve given you enough information to write everything you want about these topics. If you want to criticize somebody, don’t criticize the players. Don’t put pressure on the players. Don’t put pressure on the coaches. Let them concentrate on football. Let them concentrate on making their fans happy,” he declared.“Do you want to criticize someone? Come to me, criticize me. Here I am. You can crucify me, I am here for that. And don’t criticize Qatar, don’t criticize the players. Don’t criticize anyone. Criticize FIFA, criticize me if you want, because I’m responsible for everything. But let the people enjoy this World Cup.”
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