FIFA requests that World Cup participants in Qatar “concentrate on football.”
FIFA has written to World Cup teams requesting that they concentrate on the soccer in Qatar and not allowing the game to be pulled into ideological or political “battles.” Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, and Fatma Samoura, secretary general of the organisation, wrote the letter in response to a number of World Cup teams’ protests on matters ranging from LGBTIQ rights to worries over the treatment of migrant workers. Now let’s concentrate on the football, please! Infantino and Samoura were quoted by Sky News as having said in the letter to the 32 World Cup participating countries.
We are aware that politics pose a number of issues and difficulties around the world and that football does not exist in a vacuum.
However, kindly refrain from involving football in any ongoing political or ideological conflicts.
When approached by Reuters, FIFA was unable to respond with an instant remark.
Last week, the Australian soccer squad spoke out against Qatar’s human rights and same-sex partnership policies. The Danish FA (DBU) informed local media last month that the players from Denmark would not be going to the World Cup with their families as a show of protest against the nation’s human rights record. On Friday, Football Australia acknowledged receiving the letter from FIFA, but it chose not to make any more comments. The DBU was contacted by Reuters as well for comment. While stating that everyone is welcome regardless of sexual orientation or origin, the World Cup organizers have also cautioned against public displays of affection.
Although Qatar has acknowledged that its labor system has “gaps,” the World Cup has given the nation a chance to advance worker rights. According to Sky, Infantino stated in the letter that “At FIFA, we aim to respect all perspectives and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world.” “The world’s diversity is one of its greatest assets, and if inclusion means anything, it means respecting that difference. No nation, culture, or people is “better” than another. This tenet is the cornerstone of nondiscrimination and mutual respect. And one of football’s fundamental principles is exactly this. So let’s all keep that in mind and let football take center stage.
