Gianni Infantino is the most controversial football official in the world – the behavior of the FIFA boss at the World Cup in Qatar caused plenty of international outrage. Ex-national player Philipp Lahm now takes on the Swiss with pithy words.
Plain text shortly before the final of the soccer World Cup in Qatar: Germany’s soccer legend Philipp Lahm has sharply criticized the Swiss World Association President Gianni Infantino. “FIFA has lost more credibility due to the top representative. One increasingly gets the impression that Gianni Infantino is not looking for the best solution in terms of football and that he simply does not have integrity,” wrote Lahm in his column for the editorial network Germany (RND).
Twelve years ago, the child fell into the well when the World Cup was awarded to Qatar. Lahm: “Infantino doesn’t give the impression that he wants to change anything. He takes advantage of the game. That’s the problem of FIFA, an institution based in Europe – not of football. And that can only be changed by finally relying on a reasonable, transparent award procedure in the future.”
According to Lahm, the Europeans must “now stand together and prevent a scandal like the one that happened at the 2010 World Cup from happening again.” You have to show integrity, “Europe has to remain defensive,” said the 39-year-old Bayern star, “because a World Cup doesn’t work without Europe. Many of the Argentines play in Europe, the French anyway, and the Moroccans also orientate themselves towards Europe.” . At EURO 2024, the tournament director wants “to bring our values ??back to the fore, and above all the game. In a democratic country – and I think people want that”.
Lahm, a member of an internal working group of the German Football Association (DFB), also wants to help get the world’s largest individual sports association back on its feet. “The first decisions have been made within the DFB, now we will start working in our groups and do everything we can to identify with the national team again with a view to the home European Championship,” emphasized the former world-class player . After the recent disappointments, that will certainly not be an easy task.