Africa-Press – Botswana. The president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, accused the Europeans of hypocrisy in the issue of migrant workers who died in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup in Qatar – around 6,500, according to Amnesty International.
According to the FIFA president, the “old continent” has had glass ceilings throughout its history and has done nothing to improve the situation of these migrants.
“Taking into account what we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to lecture morally. If Europe really wanted to know about these young people, it would do as Qatar: would create legal channels, housing a percentage of those workers. Give them hope. This means that we shouldn’t be pointing the finger at what doesn’t work. These moral lessons in one sense… are just hypocrisy”, said the leader of football’s highest body, Saturday, in his opening speech of the competition.
A speech that began as follows, where he made a point of ensuring that he understood what many of those affected by the Qatari regime felt:
“Today I feel Qatari; today I feel Arab; today I feel African; today I feel gay; today I feel disabled; today I feel like a migrant worker… (…) Of course I’m not Qatari, Arab, African, gay or disabled. But I feel like one, because I know what it’s like to be discriminated against, bullied, as a foreigner in a different country. As a child, at school, what do you do? You look at the floor and you go to your room and cry. Then you try to bond and make friends. You don’t start with accusations, fights or insults. You try to make a connection. This is what we should be doing. (…) “As a child, I was discriminated against (in Switzerland ) because he had red hair and freckles, he was Italian, he spoke bad German,” he added.
“I don’t have to defend Qatar, they know how to defend themselves. I’m here defending football and injustice”, added Infantino.
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