When Fifa boss Gianni Infantino showed up in the amphitheater of the Doha press center for his press conference, a polite silence greeted his arrival.
1h45 later, the same silence escorted his departure.
But this time, no question of politeness but rather a certain discomfort in front of the incredible show executed by the Italo-Swiss.
First an hour of monologue then forty minutes listening to questions without always really answering them.
“I know how it feels to be discriminated against… I was bullied because I had red hair”
Infantino launched into a surprising speech: “Today, I feel Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled, migrant worker.
I know how it feels to be discriminated against… I was bullied because I had red hair.
Quickly, he continued, targeting critics stigmatizing the problem of human rights in Qatar or that of expatriate workers, with a charge against Europe and a reversal of the charge of the charge.
“What is happening right now is deeply, deeply unfair.
The reviews of the World Cup are hypocritical.
For what we Europeans have done for the past 3000 years, we should apologize for the next 3000 years before giving moral lessons to others.
These moral lessons are just hypocrisy.
»
The unstoppable world football chief continued: “Of the big companies making billions in Qatar, how many have settled the issue of the fate of migrant workers?
None, because a change in legislation means less profit, he continued.
But we did it”.
And concerning the fate of expatriate workers, whose deplorable working conditions, housing, unpaid wages or confiscation of passports have been observed by many non-governmental associations, Infantino, who resides part of the year in Doha, attempted a mind-blowing opposite.
“In Qatar, these workers earn ten times more than in their country and help their families.
And their status is legal because Qatar opens the doors to them.
And since 2016, there have been advances such as a minimum wage or anti-heat measures.
In Europe, migrants are repelled and those who manage to disembark are undocumented.
I have a hard time with reviews.
All these lecturers are hypocrites.
The paradise of the emigrant worker would therefore be the small Qatari state according to Infantino.
On LGBT rights, Infantino said authorities gave him a guarantee that "
everyone
" was "
welcome
. "
If someone says the opposite, it is not the opinion of the country, and it is not the opinion of Fifa.
“
Completely above ground, he made a point of recalling that, when his country, Switzerland had organized the World Cup in 1954, Swiss laws then prohibited homosexuality.
No one was able to answer him that, even if no Swiss homosexual risked being imprisoned… “It should nevertheless be allowed to be gay in the public space, he added.
But there is a way to go.
»
Regarding the decision, which fell the day before, to ban the consumption of alcohol in stadiums contrary to what had been announced, the boss of Fifa has, there too, turned around the can without convincing.
For him, it is linked to the management of spectator flows.
Complicated to understand why these “flows” would suddenly have become a problem 48 hours before the first match.
“It is a joint decision with Fifa and the Qatari government, he pleads.
If you can't drink alcohol for three hours, I think you can survive.
There are many countries that ban alcohol in stadiums, like France, but since it's a Muslim country, that's a problem.
Here again, he seems to forget that in France, consumption is authorized outside the enclosures and that his comparison is unfounded.
"Don't criticize the players," he urged.
Leave them alone.
Criticize me, crucify me, that's what I'm here for.
“He seems to have done everything for this for almost two hours when, not once, the president of Fifa said the word ecology…
