Human rights charity Amnesty International have slammed FIFA president Gianni Infantino after he urged countries participating in the upcoming World Cup to avoid protesting against Qatar's dreadful human rights record.
Infantino has sent a letter with his message just over a fortnight before the tournament kicks off in the Middle East country. Qatar still criminalises same-sex relationships and it has been alleged that thousands of migrant workers have died building the stadiums games will be played in.
Some countries are planning to wear a 'One Love' rainbow armband as a form of protesting. But in his letter, Infantino urged the teams taking part to "focus on football" and avoid "ideological battles".
That sentiment has now been blasted by Amnesty, who called on FIFA to instead stop brushing human rights concerns about Qatar "under the carpet". The charity's head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn was scathing in his rebuke of the FIFA president.
“If Gianni Infantino wants the world to ‘focus on the football’ there is a simple solution: FIFA could finally start tackling the serious human rights issues rather than brushing them under the carpet," Cockburn said in a statement to Mirror Football.
"A first step would be publicly committing to the establishment of a fund to compensate migrant workers before the tournament kicks off, and ensuring that LGBT people do not face discrimination or harassment. It is astonishing they still have not done so.
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“Gianni Infantino is right to say that ‘football does not exist in a vacuum’. Hundreds of thousands of workers have faced abuses to make this tournament possible and their rights cannot be forgotten or dismissed. They deserve justice and compensation, not empty words, and time is running out.”
In a joint-letter with FIFA's general secretary Fatma Samoura, Infantino urged the presidents of the football associations of the 32 countries taking part to "focus on football". They said their organisation wants the World Cup to take centre stage, rather than the concerns about Qatar's awful human rights record.
"Please let’s now focus on the football! We know football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world," his letter read.
"But please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists. At FIFA, we try to respect all opinions and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world.
"One of the great strengths of the world is indeed its very diversity, and if inclusion means anything, it means having respect for that diversity. No one people or culture or nation is “better” than any other.
"This principle is the very foundation stone of mutual respect and non-discrimination. And this is also one of the core values of football. So, please let’s all remember that and let football take centre stage."
