Gianni Infantino said Europeans should ‘apologize for the next 3,000 years’ for their past sins Infantino made his feelings clear in a one-hour monologue in Doha. © Christopher Lee / Getty Images
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has launched a staunch defense of the Qatar World Cup ahead of the start of the tournament, claiming that the West is in no position to issue moral lessons to the Gulf state.
Ever since Qatar was awarded World Cup hosting rights in 2010, it has faced relentless questions in the Western media about its suitability as a venue.
Much of the discussion has focused on Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and members of its LGBT community.
But in an extraordinary monologue on the eve of the event, which gets underway on Sunday when Qatar play Ecuador, Infantino said Europeans were throwing stones in glass houses.
“We have told many, many lessons from some Europeans, from the Western world,” Infantino told the assembled media in Doha.
“I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.” 
Infantino, who took over as FIFA boss in 2016 and oversaw a successful 2018 World Cup in Russia, had begun his speech by saying: “Today I have very strong feelings.”
“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] 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. I am not really a migrant worker.
“But I feel like it, because I know what it means to be discriminated [against], to be bullied, as a foreigner in a foreign country,” added the FIFA chief.
Infantino discussed his own childhood in Switzerland as the son of “migrant workers” from Italy, saying: “As a child I was bullied – because I had red hair and freckles, I was bullied, 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.” 
Infantino insisted Qatar has made major progress on migrant worker rights. © Maja Hitij / FIFA via Getty Images
“There is 1 billion disabled people in the world. Nobody cares,” added Infantino, before taking Europe to task for its own handling of migrants.
“This moral lesson-giving is one-sided, it’s just hypocrisy,” said Infantino.
“Qatar has made progress as well,” Infantino insisted, vowing that it would be “the best World Cup ever” once the ball gets rolling.
