Those last words would resound like thunder: the deafening applause, the people on their feet, the inspired gaze of those who had heard him would frame the crowning moment of his speech.
Thanks to his courage, his political astuteness and his ability to speak, he would have managed to use football as a vehicle for uniting people, cultures and countries.
Something like Martin Luther King's
I Have A Dream
speech, but with soccer involved.
Surely, that was the reaction that FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, expected when rereading the speech that he was to deliver hours later, before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
“Today I feel very strong emotions.
Today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arab, today I feel African, today I feel gay, today I feel disabled, today I feel like an immigrant worker", were the words pronounced by the head honcho of the organization that has decided to continue unceremoniously with the organization of a World Cup that has been reduced to the artificial creation of practically everything, except empathy and connection with current times.
Only a person who has not had the sensitivity to genuinely approach those who have gone through a life of exclusion, persecution and discrimination with so much pain can, with such calm, speak like this from the privilege conferred by one of the most powerful positions on the planet. .
Infantino even wanted to use this World Cup as a moment to propose a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
It is surprising that the memory of a World Cup that achieved its goal four years ago can be so distant: that Russia was spoken of in terms that favored its international image and made the public forget the atrocities that were committed and are being committed there.
It takes being very myopic, being very isolated, or feeling like you've been bitten by the spider with the superpower of being the leader the world expected to speak so brazenly.
However, Infantino may not be more than a faithful representation of what the football industry and sports entertainment -in this and other disciplines- are and how they perceive themselves: a white, cisgender, heterosexual and Anglo-Saxon man who can tell the world how to act and think, capable of moving any moral compass with a smile on his face and a check in his hand.
It is not only Infantino who embodies this position, it is also the sponsors, the media and their sports journalists (it would have been very positive to see more positions or at least questioning of many of them in the Spanish-speaking markets).
The World Cup in Qatar has generated many questions and it is interesting that one of the issues that has most concerned this population group is the sale of alcohol.
Human rights violations, lack of transparency, cruel treatment of women and the persistent threat to the LGBTA community, in some cases, have become anecdotal issues.
However, if the local organization had to change its mind and renege on its commitment regarding the sale of beer in stadiums and other points, what will it not do with situations less financially compromised by the presence of a world sponsor? ?
How to reconcile the contradictions with which this world cup confronts us?
It is not the first to be held in a territory that has been questioned because those who govern it have gone against dignity and human rights, but it is perhaps the one that with the greatest cynicism has sought to distract the gaze from what made them uncomfortable through the magic of a ball.
As former German national team Phillip Lahm has mentioned for this newspaper: “The World Cup does not belong to Qatar.
It does not have to be a contradiction to find the political background of the World Cup questionable and enjoy the football festival that it entails.
Today, loving football means learning to persistently reconcile the antithesis of positions and tastes.
It's true, football once again is a megaphone of life itself,
an amplifier of a substantial part of human existence, which in this case is also the contradiction.
However, an election also always means a resignation;
choosing a path implies leaving another (or others) aside.
This is what FIFA and the football media have seemed to forget.
They can't have it all or pretend to look good with God and the devil.
I am not in a position to tell people if they should watch the World Cup or how to deal with the reality of Qatar.
As a sports journalist, soccer fan and gay feminist woman, this World Cup has become a melting pot of questions, concerns and crossroads.
I wish everything was as easy as being able to feel part of vulnerable groups thanks to a speech and then return to the comfort of our privilege and the absence of risks that being born in a specific context and body means.
Not all of us have that possibility, Mr. Infantino.
Fortunately, this absence also allows us to see the world through solidarity with the violated human groups and the importance of demanding greater accountability from the organization of these events and the narratives that surround it.
Throughout this World Cup I hope to be able to get as close as possible to it, thanks to El País.
From here I will be accompanying you on a path that for all people should be one of reflection and growth.
In a World Cup in which almost everything is artificial, let's seek to find the authentic, even in the midst of our own contradiction.
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