“FIFA is not the police of the world or responsible for everything that happens”
MADRID, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has assured that the works of the World Cup in Qatar, which is being held this year, have given “dignity and pride” to its workers, despite the fact that more than 6,500 deaths are estimated during the construction of the stadiums and other infrastructures, and has indicated that FIFA “is not the world’s police” nor “responsible for everything that happens”.
“When we talk about this topic, which is work, hard work… The United States is a country of immigration, my parents also emigrated from Italy to Switzerland. When you give someone work, even in difficult conditions, you give them dignity and pride. It’s not charity. You don’t give something to someone and say: ‘Stay where you are. I’ll give you something and I feel good,'” he declared during the World Conference of the Milken Institute in Los Angeles (United States).
As revealed in December by ‘The Guardian’, more than 6,500 migrant workers have lost their lives in Qatar since 2010, when the country was designated to host the 2022 World Cup and began the construction of large infrastructure for the event, such as stadiums , hotels, airports or transportation lines.
In addition, Amnesty International also denounced that Qatar has “paralyzed” the changes it had promised to its labor system, maintaining “old abusive practices” against migrant labor, of two million people, such as exploitation, forced labor, non-payment of unhealthy wages and living conditions.
During the conference, when asked if FIFA would donate part of its profits from the World Cup to compensate the families of workers killed during the works, Infantino deflected the subject and stated that they had already managed to introduce a minimum wage and better labor rights. .
In this sense, the Swiss leader assured that only three workers had died in the construction works of the stadiums. “FIFA is not the world’s police nor is it responsible for everything that happens in the world. But thanks to FIFA and thanks to football we have been able to address the state of the 1.5 million workers who work in Qatar,” he stressed. the.
Last January, Infantino also declared that the World Cup every two years could offer more opportunities to Africans. “We have to give Africans hope that they don’t have to cross the Mediterranean to maybe have a better life here. We have to give them opportunities and dignity,” he said then.
The statements are produced within the framework of the tour of the FIFA chief executive through the organizing countries of the 2026 World Cup (Canada, Mexico and the United States). “We have to find other ways to reach people’s hearts and emotions. I think there are different ways to do it, and we want to take advantage of the opportunity for this World Cup to come here. The first level is actually grassroots football; it’s the access to sport. We have to make it easier for children, boys and girls, to access sport,” he said.
In his speech during the discussion session, entitled ‘Managing the king of sports’, he urged sports leaders, club owners and investors in the country to take advantage of “the interest and visibility” that the World Cup will bring to the three countries.