Gary Neville believes FIFA president Gianni Infantino is the “worst face” to represent the Qatar World Cup after his controversial monologue on Saturday and wants the governing body to “clean up his act”.
Infantino delivered an extraordinary hour-long speech at a pre-tournament press conference in Doha where he declared “today I feel gay” and “I feel (like) a migrant worker” before taking aim at European criticism of Qatar.
Ahead of Sunday’s opening match of Sunday’s 2022 final between the host nation and Ecuador, Sky Sports pundit and former England defender Neville was harshly critical of Infantino, dubbing him “a bad face for football”.
He told beIN Sport: “I’ve traveled the world with Manchester United: to the Middle East, the Far East, to Asia, Africa and Australasia and there’s no doubt we have to take football around the world.
“But he is a bad face for football, that man (Infantino). Some of the things he said yesterday were inappropriate and should not be said by him. He should be like a statesman, he should unite people, he is a global representative of football, no answering a country or two like he did yesterday He has to rise above it.
“Some of her language yesterday about, ‘I’m a migrant worker, I’m disabled’ was absolute scandal, she shouldn’t have used language like that. He shouldn’t have used that phrase in my opinion.
“I think FIFA is a poor representation of what football is, which is a beautiful game enjoyed by communities from Brazil to Bury, from Bolivia to Peru, everywhere. I have to say that FIFA needs to sort things out.
“It has been bad for so long and my personal feeling with Infantino is that he has effectively put himself back in power for four years, no independence.
“We must have independence and democracy. He voted himself back into his position and I think he is the worst face to represent the Middle East, Arabs, Muslims and the Qatar World Cup.”
Infantino has received support from more than 200 associations around the world to run for FIFA President, in what FIFA describes as a democratic process.
FIFA said on Friday that the 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was the only person contesting the election by the time the deadline passed – exactly four months before election day on March 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Infantino won a five-candidate race in 2016 to replace Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019. He will now remain in office after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
At the end of Saturday’s press conference, FIFA director of media relations Bryan Swanson said: “I have seen a lot of criticism against Gianni Infantino since I joined FIFA, particularly from the LGBTQ+ community. I sit here in his privileged position on the global stage as a gay man. here in Qatar.
“We have received guarantees that everyone is welcome and I am sure that everyone will be welcome at this World Cup.
“Just because Gianni Infantino isn’t gay doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, he does. You see the public side, I see the private side and we have spoken a few times about this. I thought long and hard about whether to mention this in this press conference, but i really feel it.
“We care at FIFA about everyone, we are an inclusive organization. I have a number of gay colleagues, so sitting here I am fully aware of the debate and I fully respect everyone’s right and everyone’s opinion to think differently, I understand. But so do I knows what we stand for and when he says we’re inclusive, he means it.”
‘This World Cup underpins how dirty the game is’
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player This may interest you : The NFL opener marks the start of the rest of the season in 2022.
Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy in Qatar at Infantino’s news conference:
“What absurd, offensive and misleading thing didn’t he say? It’s incredible and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be gay, Infantino, you don’t know what it’s like to be disabled, you don’t know what it’s like to be African and you can’t equate being discriminated against because of red hair and freckles to any of the groups you refer to have experienced. You can’t negate their experience by simply saying you ‘feel’ how they feel.
“This was an absolutely astonishing speech from the president of FIFA and perhaps even more astonishing that he was re-elected unopposed after being able to say things like this. He also took to the fact that Qatar recruits from the poorest countries in the world, millions of people who have nothing and take them to do what human rights groups call modern slavery, he says it’s okay because they are paid more than they do at home.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“It’s misleading, it’s disrespectful, it’s offensive, it undermines the purpose of trying to get better rights, better conditions for these workers to try and improve the human rights situation here.
“He talks about hypocrisy, I don’t think Infantino is one to talk about hypocrisy. I don’t think whataboutism is the right way for a FIFA president to try and enforce change.
“If we all get caught up in what happened before or what happened elsewhere and we have to stay silent because of it, we will never have effective change. We will all never say anything because no country is left untouched.” and unsullied, but we are here for the World Cup and coming into the tournament, this is what we got.
“He said it would be the best World Cup in history, I think it would be a World Cup that really stands for how dirty the game is.”
‘Infantino spoke almost like Trump’
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player To see also : Video game sales in Europe fell by 38% in July 2022.
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol in Qatar:
“It was a very strange performance from Gianni Infantino. Some of the things he said were absolutely ridiculous and at times it seemed like he was on the verge of developing a Messiah complex. The problem that FIFA presidents have is they fly around the world, meet many heads of state and after a while they started to think and act as if they were heads of state too.
“I feel today he’s talking almost like he’s Donald Trump. Some of the things he’s putting out are divisive and commanding, it’s like he’s trying to stoke tensions between Europe and the rest of the world.
“If the people in the room, 400 journalists, if we had a microphone, we would interrupt him during his speech to correct some of the untruths he was raising. I have seen some amazing press conferences in my time and that was one of them.” the most incredible I’ve ever seen.
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“It would be an insult for a FIFA president ahead of the World Cup to say he feels like a migrant worker when we know the fact that many migrant workers, who have built stadiums and infrastructure, are paid as little as £1.” an hour a lot to work and live in is absolutely appalling conditions… I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It is an insult to compare being bullied at school with living and working in conditions that some migrant workers in Qatar have had to endure over the past 12 years.
“He started by saying, ‘Today I feel gay’. It’s insulting when he’s in a country where being gay is against the law, it’s criminalized and FIFA has decided to bring the World Cup here when they keep telling us football is for everyone.”
2022 World Cup draw
In which country FIFA 2034 will be held?
Zimbabwe (possibly with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia) This may interest you : Haiti’s former sports minister arrested for alleged sexual abuse.
Will FIFA ever be held in India?
Where will fifa 2034 be held?
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Where will fifa 2026 be held?
Where will fifa 2038 be held?
Ghana. Ghana is planning an ambitious bid to stage the 2038 FIFA World Cup as part of a 40-year national development plan, developed by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC). Director General of NDPC, Dr.
Who makes more money NFL or FIFA?
In 2018, FIFA generated $4.6 billion in revenue, even though it is a non-profit organization. I’ve found a lot of different figures that find out exactly how much revenue the NFL generates, but it looks like it’s over $8.1 billion. Now, money isn’t everything, so next I’ll be looking at the crowd for the biggest game of the season.
Is there more money in the NFL or football? However, when compared to the American Football League (NFL), the difference between the two is visible. The NFL is the highest earning sports competition in the world.
Is FIFA the biggest sports organization?
Founded in 1904 to provide unity among the national football associations, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has 209 members, rivals the United Nations, and is arguably the most prestigious sporting organization in the world.
Is FIFA more profitable than the NFL?
For example, in 2018, total World Cup revenue was about $5 billion, about $78.1 million per game, while in the same year the NFL brought in $14 billion, or about $52.2 million per game.
Are tattoos okay in Qatar?
Not. However, it is best to cover tattoos, and piercings in non-traditional locations (e.g., eyebrows, lips) may not be frowned upon.
Does Qatar Airways accept tattooed cabin crew? Qatar Airways policy regarding cabin crew tattoos Tattoos are not allowed, no matter where they are located.
Does Qatar Airways check for tattoos?
Qatar Airlines Regulations As a state-owned company, Qatar Airways does not employ flight attendants with tattoos. You are not allowed to get any tattoos, whether visible on your uniform or not. It is important that you do not lie about any tattoos as these will be checked during your medical exam.
Is tattoo prohibited in Qatar?
Tattoos are not allowed even if you can see them they will check during medical in qatar and you will be sent home happened with my friend. 1 week before graduation he was sent home because of his tattoo.
