Qatar won the championship in controversial circumstances in 2010 and have come under almost constant criticism ever since. Among other things, due to repeated violations of human rights.
The reservations mainly concerned the working conditions of foreign workers. More recently, the human rights organization Equidem drew attention to them, according to which, despite a series of new measures, workers still face discrimination and unjustified wage cuts.
However, Infantino raised a strong objection at a press conference the day before the start of the World Cup on Sunday. On the contrary, he appreciated the fact that the Qatari government has allowed migrants to enter the country and given them jobs.
“We in Europe are closing the borders and not allowing people from these countries to work here legally. If we really cared about them, Europe would take a position like Qatar,” he said.
“Let me give them work, give them a future, give them hope. Instead hypocritically moralize. For what we have done in Europe for the last three thousand years, we should now apologize for three thousand years before we start giving moral lessons.” she declared.
He described Qatar’s last-minute decision to ban the sale of beer at the stadium as secondary, even though the organizers had agreed this with FIFA in September. “If this is our biggest problem, I will sign it now, go to the beach and rest until December 18,” Infantino said.
“I think if fans can’t drink a beer for three hours, they will survive. The same rules apply in France, Spain or Scotland, where beer is not allowed in stadiums,” Infantino said. “There will still be eight or ten fan zones where you can buy alcohol,” said the FIFA boss. However, this only applies from 6.30pm local time.
