A major sporting event is planned, but it has long been just as much about politics. Qatar has been under criticism for months, and the closer the World Cup gets, the stronger it gets. Teams also participate. FIFA President Infantino now wants to stop that.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has written to the 32 participants in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and called for football and not political debates to be the focus of the tournament, which begins on November 20. The German Football Association (DFB) and the World Football Association confirmed the letter, which was initially reported by the British broadcaster “Sky News”.
The broadcaster quoted Infantino’s letter, which FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura also signed: “We know that football does not live in a vacuum and we are also aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature around the world. But please don’t allow football to be drawn into every ideological or political struggle there is.”
Despite all the criticism, Samoura spoke of a month “full of cheers and celebrations. The eyes of the whole world will be on Qatar,” she emphasized: “After everything we’ve been through in the past two years, this is a unique opportunity for Fans from all over the world to come together for the greatest show ever.”
The host of the World Cup, Qatar, has been criticized above all for its treatment of stadium construction workers and the criminalization of the LGTBQ community, in which sexual minorities have banded together. According to Sky News, the Infantino letter said: “At FIFA we try to respect all opinions and beliefs without giving moral lessons to the rest of the world.” And that everyone is welcome in Qatar, “regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality”.
The Lesbian and Gay Association of Germany (LSVD) then called on the football associations to stop supporting FIFA. “Stop believing in the fairy tale that FIFA tournaments would promote human rights or would be a win for the hosting nations,” said a press release from the LSVD: “At the World Cup in Qatar and also at the upcoming U20 World Cup there can be no winners in Indonesia because human rights have already lost.”
