Ivory Tower when you now live year-round in Qatar or assumed provocation? The latest public statements by Gianni Infantino, the president of the international football federation (Fifa) did not fail to react. At a business conference in California, Infantino was asked about the fate of thousands of migrants sometimes exploited in Qatar to build infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.
The Italian-Swiss then dropped these surprising words: “My parents migrated from Italy to Switzerland. When you give someone work, even in difficult conditions, you give them dignity and pride. It’s not charity. »
In three sentences, Gianni Infantino acted as if the “difficult conditions” were not much. A number of workers have been deprived of their freedoms and thousands are said to have died on the construction sites. By way of comparison, Switzerland, cited by Infantino, welcomes immigrant families and offers free education to their children…
“Fifa is not the police of the world or responsible for everything that happens in the world,” he allowed himself to continue when journalists told him about the Guardian figures. Recall that a few months ago, before the European Parliament, Infantino had assured that only three people had died on the construction sites in Qatar…
Remember that this is not the first time that the big boss of world football has dared to make somewhat uncertain comparisons between poverty and football. Thus, to defend his controversial and badly embarked project of a World Cup every two years, Infantino had explained that it was good for Africa in these terms: “We must give hope to Africans so that they do not need to cross the Mediterranean to find a better life but, more likely, death at sea. We must give dignity”.
