I regret to inform you that ahead of the women’s World Cup final this weekend, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has made another one of his public statements. You may recall that at the start of the men’s World Cup in Qatar last November, Infantino addressed “the west” – a hilariously self-effacing gesture that puts me in mind of a video that the actor Richard Gere once released on the eve of some Palestinian elections. “Hi, I’m Richard Gere,” this began, “and I’m speaking for the entire world.” Infantino was also covering a lot of bases last year in Qatar, declaring: “Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker.” Oh dear.
Anyway, in the early hours of this morning, two days before England meet Spain in the final of a World Cup that has seen rapturous engagement, and record attendance and global viewing figures, Infantino announced he was addressing “all the women”.
