FIFA President Gianni Infantino has told Western countries to fix the crimes they’ve committed in the past, before coming for Qatar.
“I’m European. For what we Europeans have been doing around the world in the last 3,000 years, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people,” Infantino told hundreds of reporters on Saturday.
Infantino, son of migrant workers from Italy, said the Middle Eastern country has “made progress” in improving the rights of migrant workers.
“I came here six years ago and addressed the matter of migrant workers straight on, in my very first meeting,” Infantino said, pausing and looking straight at the gathered journalists.
“How many of these European or Western business companies, who earned millions and millions from Qatar and other countries in the region – billions every year – how many of them addressed the rights of migrant workers with the authorities?
“I have the answer for you. None of them,” the FIFA chief said, adding “the one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy.”
Homosexuality is illegal in the country, but Qatar has said all fans are welcome to attend the showpiece event.
“I have been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country. Several times, not just once. They have confirmed, I can confirm, that everyone is welcome,” the FIFA president said.
In remarks to reporters at the end of the news conference, FIFA media chief Bryan Swanson, who is gay, insisted everyone is welcome in Qatar.
“I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Gianni Infantino since I’ve joined FIFA, in particular from the LGBTQ community,” Swanson said.
“I’m sitting here in a privileged position on a global stage as a gay man here in Qatar. We have received assurances that everybody is welcome and I believe that everybody will be welcome in this World Cup,” he added.
Despite some critics calling for companies to boycott the World Cup, Infantino hailed the “commercial success” of this year’s tournament.
“We sold the media rights for around $200m more than the last World Cup,” he said. “We sold the sponsorship rights for also around $200m more than the last World Cup.
“And as far as ticketing and hospitality rights are concerned, we are at almost 200 to 300 million more than the last World Cup.”
