People don’t generally attend the AGMs of international sporting bodies if they are looking for drama. Consensus, backslapping and forelock tugging are usually the order of the day. But Fifa’s Congress in Doha this week took place in a period of unique political volatility and disruption duly followed.
On Thursday Lise Klaveness, the president of the Norwegian Football Federation, stood in front of Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, the head of Qatar’s Supreme Committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, and more than 250 other – almost entirely male – football bigwigs and told them they needed to do more. More to help migrant workers in Qatar, more to protect LGBTQ+ supporters at the World Cup, more to make the global game welcoming to all.
