FIFA president Gianni Infantino has urged the 32 nations preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality.
A letter imploring teams to “let football take center stage” was sent by Infantino and FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura ahead of intense media focus on coaches and players when World Cup squads are announced next week.
“Please, let’s now focus on the football!” Infantino and Samoura wrote, asking the 32 competing federations to “not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”
Qatar was picked to host the World Cup in 2010, sparking scrutiny ever since regarding the country’s treatment of low-paid migrant workers needed to build projects costing tens of billions of dollars and its laws criminalizing same-sex relationships.
FIFA’s comments in defense of Qatar follow more strident targeting of critics in recent weeks by public officials, including Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as the Nov. 20 kickoff nears.
The emir two weeks ago denounced “fabrications and double standards” in what he has called an “unprecedented campaign” against a World Cup host nation.
Eight European teams have committed to their captains wearing heart-shaped armbands — in breach of FIFA rules — to support an anti-discrimination campaign launched in the Netherlands, and Australia players took part in a video airing concerns about Qatar’s human rights record.
Several coaches and federations, including the United States, have backed calls to create a compensation fund for migrant workers’ families. Denmark, usually in red, will wear all-black jerseys as a sign of mourning for those who died in Qatar.
The Dutch soccer federation pushed back at FIFA late Friday, restating its commitment to leave “lasting improvements in the situation of migrant workers in Qatar.”
