FIFA World Cup: Qatar World Cup: FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, and secretary general, Fatma Samoura, have advised teams to concentrate on football during the next World Cup 2022 in Qatar, rather than getting sucked into every ideological and political conflict. The proposal comes in response to a series of World Cup demonstrations in Qatar over LQBTQ regulations and the treatment of migrant workers. Follow Qatar World Cup updates LIVE on InsideSport.IN.
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FIFA World Cup: FIFA requests participating nations to focus on football, avoid political debacles – Check Out
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura wrote the letter in response to rising calls for athletes to participate as activists during the competition. According to a letter from FIFA to World Cup 2022 countries asking them to focus on the tournament rather than lectures on morality, football has been pulled “into every ideological or political battle that exists.”
In his letter to the 32 MAs taking part in the forthcoming World Cup, Gianni Infantino gives us the best possible reasons for carrying on talking about ‘not just football’ when we talk about football. Shameless and shameful in equal measure. pic.twitter.com/GWLLzkaDrK
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) November 4, 2022
“Please, let’s now focus on the football!” wrote Infantino and Samoura to the 32 football countries participating in the showpiece tournament in a letter quoted by Sky Sports.
“We know football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world,” FIFA added in its letter. But please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists,” the world football governing organization urged.
FIFA World Cup: FIFA requests participating nations to focus on football, avoid political debacles – Check Out
The letter does not address England, Wales, and six other European teams’ request for their captains to wear “One Love” multicoloured armbands at the World Cup in response to concerns about Qatar’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Both British governments have previously said that any FIFA ban will be rejected.
With less than three weeks until Qatar’s men’s football tournament, the letter was issued to all competing nations. Infantino and his leadership group were not in place when FIFA’s executive committee agreed to award Qatar the World Cup in 2010.
FIFA World Cup: FIFA requests participating nations to focus on football, avoid political debacles – Check Out
“At FIFA, we try to respect all opinions and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world. One of the great strengths of the world is indeed its very diversity, and if inclusion means anything, it means having respect for that diversity. No one people or culture or nation is ‘better’ than any other.”
“This principle is the very foundation stone of mutual respect and non-discrimination. And this is also one of the core values of football. So, please let’s all remember that and let football take centre stage,” noted Infantino in his letter.
The FIFA boss added everyone would be welcome in Qatar “regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality”.
FIFA World Cup: FIFA requests participating nations to focus on football, avoid political debacles – Check Out
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