GARY NEVILLE believes Fifa president Gianni Infantino is “the worst face” to represent the Qatar World Cup after his controversial monologue on Saturday and wants the governing body to “clean up its act”.
Infantino delivered an extraordinary hour-long speech in a pre-tournament press conference in Doha in which he declared “today I feel gay” and “I feel (like) a migrant worker” before taking aim at European critics of Qatar.
Ahead of Sunday’s opening game of the 2022 finals between the host nation and Ecuador, former England defender Neville was appearing as a pundit on beIN Sports and heavily criticised the Swiss, labelling him as a “terrible face for football”.
🗣️ "FIFA is a poor representation of what football is, a beautiful game... I think FIFA needs to clean up its act."
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 20, 2022
👀 @GNev2 reacts to Gianni Infantino's press conference!#Qatar2022 #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/UGGuGVlgLs
He said: “I’ve been all around the world with Manchester United: to the Middle East, the Far East, to Asia, Africa and Australasia and there’s no doubt we should be taking football all around the world.
“But he’s a terrible face for football, that guy (Infantino). Some of the things he said yesterday were inappropriate and shouldn’t be said by him. He should be statesmanlike, he should be bringing people together, he’s the global representative of football, not answering to one or two nations which he seemed to be doing yesterday. He’s got to rise above it.
“I’m sick of these leaders like (Boris) Johnson, (Donald) Trump, Infantino and (Sepp) Blatter — they don’t unite, they divide, all their language is about division, even though they think they’re bringing people together, they’re not.
“Some of his language yesterday about, ‘I’m a migrant worker, I’m disabled’ is an absolute scandal, he shouldn’t be using that type of language. He shouldn’t be using those phrases in my opinion.
“I think Fifa is a poor representation of what football is, which is a beautiful game enjoyed by communities from Brazil to Bury, from Bolivia to Peru, to everywhere. I have to say that Fifa needs to clean up its act.
“It’s been bad for so long and my personal feeling with Infantino is that he’s effectively put himself back into power for four years, there’s no independence.
“We’ve got to have independence and democracy. He elects himself back into position and I think he’s the worst face to represent the Middle East, Arabs, Muslims and the Qatar World Cup.”
What an opening monologue from @GaryLineker. Pitch perfect. #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/iXGLZPWeRt
— Jack Parker (@JackParkr) November 20, 2022
Former England captain Gary Lineker opened the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup by highlighting some of the issues that have been faced so far.
“It’s the most controversial World Cup in history and a ball hasn’t been kicked,” he said. “Ever since Fifa chose Qatar back in 2010, the smallest nation to have hosted football’s greatest competition has faced some big questions.
“From accusations of corruption in the bidding process to the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums, where many lost their lives.
“Homosexuality is illegal here, women’s rights and freedom of expression are in the spotlight, also the decision six years ago to switch the World Cup from summer to winter.
“Against that backdrop is a tournament to be played, one that will be watched and enjoyed around the world.
“Stick to football say Fifa, well, we will for a couple of minutes at least.”
When asked by Lineker about the tournament taking place in winter, his fellow former England striker Alan Shearer called it “weird”.
“Weird, really strange considering there was a league programme only seven days ago,” Shearer said on the BBC.
“There’s a lot spoken about, but I hope once the football gets under way it starts feeling like a World Cup and we can sit and enjoy what’s hopefully a great spectacle.”
'FIFA want us to stick to football,' says @RichieSadlier, who believes that it is highly unlikely the debate will not include politics#FifaWorldCup #rtesoccer
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 20, 2022
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Meanwhile, the RTÉ panel were similarly critical.
Former Ireland international Richie Sadlier said: “In the last few years, in response to criticisms that the tournament was taking place in Qatar, Fifa would make comments like: ‘Football can be a vehicle for change, reform, and it’s a power for good in the world.’
”As recently as two weeks ago, we realised that any change that has happened in Qatar has been, according to human rights organisations, largely superficial and not properly implemented.
“Infantino comes out and says to all competing nations: ‘Don’t let football be dragged into politics and ideology.
“Fifa will want everyone to forget about these issues — just ‘stick to football’.
“The ‘stick to football brigade’ will be out in force trying to get us just to focus on what happens on the pitch. If I was Fifa, that’s what I’d want because the more focus on the tournament, the reality of the labour conditions of people who built those stadiums, the money that was exchanged, the lack of inclusivity, the lack of tolerance, the health and safety fears of a lot of people who were there — of course, I’d want them to stick to football, but it’s going to be a tricky thing to do.”
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
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