The FIFA communicated to the teams that will participate in the Qatar World Cup to urge them to focus on football and not let the sport be dragged down by ideological or political “battles”as reported by Reuters.
The letter from the FIFA president, Giani Infantinoand the general secretary of the governing body, fatma samurafollows a series of protests made by the teams that will go to the World Cup on topics ranging from LGBTIQ rights to concerns about the treatment of migrants.
FIFA have written to World Cup teams urging them to focus on the tournament and not be part of reading on morality and dragging football “into every ideological or political battle that exists”.
—SkySportsNews (@SkySportsNews) November 4, 2022
SkyNewsquoting Infantino and Samuora, declared the following about it.
Please, let’s focus on football now! We know that football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many political challenges and difficulties around the world. But please don’t let football get sucked into every ideological or political battle out there.
The 2022 World Cupthe first held in the Middle East, begins on November 20 and until December 18 in Qatarvenue whose selection was controversial since its announcement.
In response, Steve Cockburndirector of Amnesty International Economic and Social Justicestated that FIFA should deal with the problems, not “sweep them under the rug.”
If Gianni Infantino wants the world to ‘focus on football’, there is a simple solution: FIFA could finally start tackling serious human rights issues instead of sweeping them under the rug.
International Amnesty and other human rights groups have called on FIFA to compensate migrant workers in Qatar for human rights abuses by allocating $440 million, equivalent to World Cup prize money.
On October 27, the soccer team of Australia spoke out against Qatar’s record on human rights and same-sex relations through a video posted on their official accounts declaring that “cAs gamers, we fully support the rights of LGBTI+ people, but in Qatar people are not free to love whoever they choose”.
The players of Denmark will travel to the World Cup without their families in protest against the country’s human rights record, the Danish Football Association (DBU) told local media last month.
(With information from Reuters)
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
