President of the Football Association Ari Lahti visited the World Cup in Qatar twice. The visits received criticism in advance (you will switch to another service)but Lahti feels that they were important in order to make the voice of the European unions heard.
The experiences in Qatar confirmed Lahti’s view that the choice of host countries must be made more responsibly in the future.
In Qatar, thousands of migrant workers who built stadiums and other infrastructure died on the job. In addition to this, the position of women and sexual minorities in the country is weak.
Awarding the tournament to Qatar caused a lot of pressure in the direction of the international football association Fifa.
– The football family must act more responsibly in the future when talking about the venues of the big finals and related issues. The huge discussion that was seen around important issues, it is necessary to change the attitude.
Lahti praises Qatar for the successful arrangements.
– The arrangements work well. When the stadiums were finally completed, they turned out to be excellent arenas and the traffic arrangements, for example, worked very well.
The Nordic EC application will be decided in April
On the first trip at the beginning of the games, Lahti was attended by the vice president Kaarlo Kankunen and Secretary General Marco Casagrande with to the Fifa Executive Summit. For the second time, Lahti went to Doha to watch the World Cup final.
The trips were slightly different in duration and content.
– The actual dialogue that took place regarding human rights, the rights and conditions of migrant workers, was discussed more on the first trip. Together with the other Nordic countries, we visited, for example, the office of the International Labor Organization under the UN in Doha, and discussed the issues extensively.
– On the second trip, I was there for a little over a day and I talked to my European colleagues about two things. The second was related to the women’s 2025 EC final tournament, which we have applied for together with the other Nordic countries. Another thing was the upcoming board member elections for Uefa and Fifa.
In connection with the opening match, all the Nordic countries were present in Qatar, but at least Sweden was no longer represented in the final match. With the Danish Football Association, Lahti says that he thought about how to make the Nordic application even more competitive.
– The latest twist in the application process is that the decision on the tournament organizer is not made in January, but only in April due to tournament costs.
At the beginning of the Games, a storm arose when Fifa blocked the desire of seven European countries to wear the One Love rainbow ribbon on the captains’ arms. Fifa threatened the teams with a yellow card, and the teams backed off.
According to Lahti, the case further strengthened Western European cooperation regarding human rights.
– I think there were 11 of us together when we discussed these famous tapes with Fifa. A strong united front emerged more widely than just between the Nordic countries, and it was good to notice.
– On the second trip, I talked to the chairman of the FA by Debbie Hewitt with, and he is running for the Fifa board. We talked about the fact that the European members will speak in favor of responsible activities.
“Further discussion is needed”
Lahti admits that the conflict was not conducive to improving relations between UEFA and Fifa. However, he is hopeful that Europeans will also be listened to.
– Fifa exercises the highest decision-making power, but Europe is well represented in the decision-making bodies. I think this discussion, which to some extent was related to the disparagement of Western European federations, needs further discussion with Fifa.
– I believe that there is a common note, but those events did not help the development of Fifa and UEFA relations in the short term.
Fifa’s controversial president Gianni Infantino came to be elected at the March congress in Rwanda for a new four-year term, as no counter-candidates appeared by the deadline. At the Fifa Council meeting held in Qatar last Friday, it was confirmed that Infantino, who enjoys an annual salary of more than three million dollars, may possibly keep his dominant position until 2031.
Earlier in 2016, in the aftermath of the Fifa corruption scandal, a change was made to the chairmanships, so that the chairman can only serve a maximum of three terms. Now, however, it was decided that Infantino’s first term (2016–2019) would not be counted as one presidency. Lahti considers the procedure to be normal.
– In many cases, it is common that the shortened season is not counted in the maximum season. It is by no means certain that he would be selected for the next season in 2027.