Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has slammed FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the opening game of the World Cup between Qatar and Ecuador.
Neville was responding to Infantino's comments yesterday where he said: "Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled." He then proceeded to criticise Europe's criticism of Qatar hosting the tournament labelling them 'hypocrites'.
Qatar has been condemned for their human rights track record as well as the deaths of migrant workers during the construction of stadiums in the Arabic country. Appearing on the Qatari state owned broadcaster BeIN Sports, Neville took aim at Infantino.
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"I went all around the world playing with Manchester United to the Middle East, to the Far East, to Asia, to Australasia, to Africa and there is no doubt that we should be taking football all around the world," he explained. "He is a terrible face for football that guy [Infantino].
"Some of the things he said yesterday were inappropriate and shouldn't be said by him. He should be statesman like, he should be bringing people together, he is the global representative of football, not answering to one or two nations which he seems to be doing yesterday.
"He has got to rise above it. I am sick of these leaders like [Boris] Johnson, [Donald] Trump, like Infantino, like [Sepp] Blatter who don't unite, they divide and all their language is about division.
"I have to say some of his language yesterday about: 'I'm a migrant worker, I am disabled,' it is an absolute scandal, he should not be using that type of language. To be fair I think FIFA is a poor representation of what football is which is a game that is enjoyed by communities in Brazil to Bury, to Bolivia, to Peru, everywhere and I have to say FIFA needs to clean up its act."
Neville himself has faced criticism for accepting a role as part of the punditry team on BeIN Sports considering his firm political associations and previous criticism of the World CUp being held in Qatar. Earlier this year, the ex-United defender appeared at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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