Gianni Infantino has referenced Rwanda’s hardship in recovering from a genocide, which saw an estimated 800,000 people murdered, when discussing his campaign to become FIFA president in 2016.
Infantino was speaking at the FIFA electoral congress in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali where he was re-elected for another four-year term after running unopposed. And while he will view the result as confirmation of his popularity, his opening speech is the latest example of his bizarre and often controversial style.
Ahead of the World Cup in Qatar last year, the 52-year-old attacked his critics in a rambling hour-long speech in which he declared: "Today I feel Qatari, Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker.”
Infantino was heavily criticised for his insensitive words, which he justified by saying he was bullied as a child, and he has opened himself up to a similar backlash in Rwanda. After coming onto the stage in front of FIFA members from 211 countries around the world, he began by talking about the work of Rwandan women who survived the genocide and are now manufacturing footballs.
He implored his delegates to buy their products before going on to explain his own connections to the country. “The second story I want to tell you about this beautiful country is that it has a particular relationship with me,” he began.
“When I was campaigning to become FIFA president [in 2016], Rwanda hosted the African Nations Championship and I came, full of hope, twice to Rwanda, first for the opening game, when I met many of the African associations and for the final game.
“First time I came, I was full of energy and full of hope. And the second time I came I was told, ‘well we all love you, but actually we’re not going to support you in the election’. So of course I was pretty depressed, about to give up and had already packed and then suddenly somebody came to see me with a match for the final, because I had no ticket – by the way, the DRC won – and he said ‘This is a ticket offered to you by President Paul Kagame’.
“And then I decided, I thought about it, and I remembered my visit to the [genocide] memorial – and you should all visit it – and I said ‘Who am I to give up?’ What this country has suffered, and how this country came back up for the entire world, dear President. So I certainly couldn’t give up because somebody was telling me something.
“I stayed, I attended the match, I continued to campaign, I was elected FIFA president a few months later. But most importantly I witnessed how this country flourished – and this country flourished with nothing, with hope, with compassion, with commitment, with hard work and with leadership.
“And today it’s a beautiful country and I’m sure everyone here would come back with their friends and their families to visit, not only Kigali, but also the rural areas – the gorillas, the beauties that you can see here and in the neighbouring countries.”
The Rwandan Genocide happened in 1994 when ethnic Hutsu extremists slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the Tutsi minority in 100 days of mass murder.
