FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Saturday accused Western countries of «hypocrisy» for criticizing the human rights situation in Qatar ahead of the World Cup without taking into account their own historical past.
«For the things that Europeans have done to the world over the last 3,000 years, they should be apologizing for another 3,000 years before they start giving moral lessons to people,» the FIFA president told a press conference.
«How many business companies, European or foreign, making millions, billions thanks to Qatar, have discussed the situation of migrant workers’ rights with the authorities. None, because changing the legislation means less profit,» he asked during the appearance, reported by the BBC.
The president opened the press conference with a monologue of almost an hour in which he defended the holding of the tournament in a country criticized for the repression against activists and the LGBTQ community and the mistreatment of foreign workers.
«Today I harbor very powerful feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker,» he assured before qualifying that it was an expression of empathy.
«Of course I am not a Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled or migrant worker. But I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated against and harassed as a foreigner in a foreign country,» he said.
Ahead of the World Cup, former Qatar national soccer team international Khalid Salman, one of several ambassadors for the tournament starting Sunday, declared that being gay is «mentally damaging» in a documentary on German public broadcaster ZDF.
For Infantino, «this one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy,» he argued, before asking «why no one recognizes the progress made» in the country. «I don’t have to defend Qatar, they can defend themselves. I defend soccer. Qatar has progressed,» he assured.
