FIFA president sees hypocrisy in criticism of Qatar and says fans will survive without beer

On the eve of the opening of the World Cup in Qatar, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said this Saturday (19) that he sees as hypocrisy the criticism of Qatar due to allegations about the situation of migrants who worked in the country’s infrastructure, including in the construction of the stadiums that will host the tournament.

The leader also commented on the decision announced on Friday (18) that the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages will no longer be allowed in the World Cup stadiums. “We will survive.”

In a long, hour-long speech, before allowing questions from journalists, the Swiss-Italian began by saying that Europeans should apologize for the next 3,000 years for their own stories before “starting to lecture”.

Infantino also suggested that Europe “should do like Qatar” and allow the entry of at least a portion of migrants seeking a better life in the countries of the continent. “Reduce payments but give them some hope, give them some future. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out what doesn’t work. Here in Qatar too, of course, there are some things that don’t work and need to be addressed.”

In June, a report published by Amnesty International pointed to accusations of illegal fees charged by intermediaries and companies for hiring workers in Qatar, non-payment or undue withholding of wages, conditions analogous to slavery, exhausting working hours in temperatures that can exceed 50º C in summer and especially the “kafala”.

This is the law that determined that the migrant worker could only change jobs if the previous boss gave him a letter authorizing it. Qatar claims that the “kafala” has been phased out, but the entities responsible for the report say that it remains in force at several companies.

The 60-page document “Predictable and preventable: why FIFA and Qatar should remedy abuses behind the 2022 World Cup”, in English ) also asked FIFA and Qatar to pay workers compensation.

Although it does not present a definitive amount, the entity defends that, to begin with, FIFA reserves US$ 440 million (R$ 2.35 billion) for this.

When commenting on the situation of migrants, the FIFA president said that he has already suffered from discrimination.

“Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker,” he said. “Of course I’m not Qatari, I’m not Arab, I’m not African, I’m not gay, I’m not disabled. But I feel like it because I know what it means to be discriminated against, to be bullied, like a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child, I suffered bullying because he had red hair and freckles and was Italian.”

Before ending the speech, the official minimized the criticism for the ban on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the World Cup stadiums, as per the decision announced by the entity the day before.

“I would love for this to be the most important problem at the World Cup. I would rest on the beach until the 18th. I think you can go three hours a day without drinking beer. We will survive. These rules are already in force in France, in Spain and Scotland. I don’t know if it’s more spoken because it’s an Arab country,” he said.

The main sponsor of the Cup in Qatar is precisely a brand of beer, Budweiser, which would sell the alcoholic drink within the perimeter of the eight arenas, between three hours before and one hour after each game.

The beer manufacturer paid US$ 75 million (R$ 401 million in current values) to be an official sponsor of the event. Only the zero (alcoholic) version of the beer will continue to be available in all stadiums.

🇧🇷[Sobre a] the Budweiser? She is one of our main historical sponsors. We just renewed our agreement until 2026,” said Infantino.