FIFA president Gianni Infantino says ‘Today I feel Qatari, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled’ in bizarre press conference speech on eve of 2
11/19/2022 04:50 AM
FIFA president Gianni Infantino raised eyebrows in his attempts to hit out at criticism of Qatar on the eve of the World Cup. Infantino was trying to make the point about hypocrisy, but risked overshadowing his message with a poorly worded monologue, in which he declared: “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled.” Infantino has accused the West of hypocrisy of its reporting of Qatar’s issues ahead of the World Cupgetty The football boss was specifically responding to criticism of Qatar from Europe, as he held a press conference around just 30 hours until the tournament kicks off in Sunday’s opening clash between hosts Qatar and Ecuador – which we will bring you LIVE on talkSPORT. The game’s global governing body has been attacked for its decision to take the finals to Qatar, where the treatment of migrant workers and the rights of LGBTQ+ people have been in the spotlight. Instead of hyping up excitement for the tournament the day before it begins, the chief instead used the opportunity to try and cool some of the heat FIFA has come under. Infantino had a strong word for any European critics of Qatar, saying history suggests they are in no place to ‘give moral lessons to people’. But it’s likely all the focus will be about one section of his extraordinary speech, rather than his overall message. Speaking on Saturday morning, Infantino said: “We have told many, many lessons from some Europeans, from the western world. Infantino risked masking his message with his bizarre commentsgetty Most read in Football THE BEST Rooney picks perfect time to comment on GOAT debate between Messi and Ronaldo SURPRISE Wigan to hire Kolo Toure as new boss just days after his brother Yaya rejected job bombshell How to watch explosive Cristiano Ronaldo interview with Piers Morgan in full DRY Beer BANNED at World Cup as Qatar force FIFA into U-turn and Budweiser post response info Everything you need to know about World Cup from fixtures to stadiums and timings out Man United looking to sack Ronaldo as club confirm they are taking 'appropriate steps' “I think for what we Europeans have been doing the last 3,000 years we should be apologising for next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.” Infantino then added: “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker. “Of course I am not Qatari, I am not an Arab, I am not African, I am not gay, I am not disabled. “But I feel like it, because I know what it means to be discriminated, to be bullied, as a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child I was bullied – because I had red hair and freckles, plus I was Italian, so imagine. “What do you do then? You try to engage, make friends. Don’t start accusing, fighting, insulting, you start engaging. “And this is what we should be doing.” talkSPORT World Cup 2022 Coverage talkSPORT will be offering wall-to-wall coverage of the 2022 World Cup We’ll be broadcasting all 64 games in the tournament live, with over 600 hours of coverage across our network. You can tune in to talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com. talkSPORT is widely available across the UK via DAB digital radio and on 1089 or 1053 AM. You can also download the talkSPORT app, or ask your smart speaker to play talkSPORT.
