It’s over.
The 22nd FIFA Men’s World Cup was certainly the most controversial tournament ever seen.
In terms of football, the games will be remembered for, among other things, their surprise results, variable refereeing, the first place in the semi-finals of African countries, the truly dramatic final match and the end of Argentina’s 36-year wait.
“A great football tournament, in the wrong place”, according to The Guardian in the editorial (you will switch to another service) was shaped.
When it comes to events outside the fields, the memories will not be very rosy.
The accusations of bribery related to getting the Qatar Games, the trampling of human rights in the country, the dead migrant workers, Fifa “focus on football” letter (you move to another service) for football federations, twisting rainbow emblems, manufactured by Qatar and those who oppose it social media Kohut (you switch to another service)… There have been enough topics.
The last unexpected moment that stirred people was seen after the end of Sunday’s final. President of the international football association Fifa Gianni Infantino and the Emir Sheikh of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani stayed as long as possible to distribute the World Cup trophy. They used their last moment to dress Argentina For Lionel Messi on top of a bisht, i.e. a traditional Arab men’s cloak.
The only one who has stood, of course, next to Qatar and its leaders is Fifa, which granted the games to it, and especially its president Infantino. Fifa deserves even more criticism for everything related to the Games than Qatar.
The Swiss, who lived in Qatar until the beginning of 2022, has turned almost all criticism of the Games and Fifa into the double moralism of Western countries and pointless gravel noises. That’s his job.
Sometimes he has said that he feels like a migrant worker, Arab, African, homosexual or disabled.
And what kind of explanations does Infantino have when shooting, with which he can cover up the fact that nothing is being done about any criticism. He will most likely be elected in March 2023 at the Fifa Congress in Rwanda for a new four-year presidency.
In the footsteps of Sepp Blatter
At the meeting held in Qatar on Friday, it was ensured that Infantino will be allowed to keep his position of power 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.
However, at Friday’s Fifa Council meeting, it was outlined that Infantino’s first season (2016–2019) would not be counted as one presidency.
The same council, with a different membership, was also once choosing Qatar and Russia as the hosts of the World Cup.
So Infantino gets to enjoy his role and his annual salary of more than three million dollars for possibly up to 13 years. That’s just one season short of his compatriot Sepp Blatter’s from the chairman’s time, which lasted 17 years. Infantino replaced Blatter, who was sidelined due to corruption allegations.
The core issue should be, will anything in Fifa’s activities clearly change for the better during Infantino’s coming years of power?
These games left a lot of broken promises.
No official role in compensation
7.5 billion dollars. That’s how much Fifa nets according to your own assessment (you switch to another service) income from the World Cup in Qatar, i.e. more than expected before the Games.
However, it probably won’t benefit the relatives of the migrant workers who lost their lives in the construction of the Games. Although Fifa has established (you switch to another service) again his “legacy fund” according to each of his World Cups, Infantino did not confirm to reporters who asked about it that its funds would go to, for example, the families of migrant workers who died.
– The competitions have been a huge success by all measures, he praised right at the beginning.
Soon he said that Fifa had done important work that improved the conditions of migrant workers. Having even done everything.
– Every death has been too much, he explained, but immediately denied, for example, the much-paged story of The Guardian report (you switch to another service) and the numbers of dead migrant workers presented by human rights organizations. According to him, the correct number is 400–500, as of 2014.
Earlier this year, in front of the European Parliament, he claimed that only three migrant workers had died on construction sites for the Games.
No matter what Infantino says, Fifa has already broken its promises in advance, for example regarding its own World Cup organizer requirements. Alternately, Fifa let Qatar slip, for example, on its promises to organize the World Cup tournament in the summer, bet on the women’s national football team (you will switch to another service)carbon neutrality and selling alcohol in stadiums.
Not to mention improving human rights and the conditions of migrant workers. Even the reforms regarding the rights of migrant workers that Qatar made came according to human rights organizations (you will switch to another service) too late. Some of the changes in the law, for example regarding salary payment or working hours, are still not respected.
Nothing is likely to change
How would things change?
It should be pointed out that during Infantino’s tenure, Fifa’s operations have already changed slightly. For example, the competition host search has become more open. But, as the legacy of these Games shows, there is still a long way to go.
It is difficult to expect a political upheaval within Fifa. Infantino was glowing about the number of his supporters during these games as well.
– Fifa is an organization of 211 countries around the world. I am very proud that more than 200 countries have expressed their support for me and I am very grateful to the others, he said.
Because according to many parties, such as Fifa, “football should not be mixed with politics”. Of course, before the Games, the president of Fifa took a stand on a non-political issue like the war.
Vladimir Putin Infantino, who has been on close terms with over the years, in November expressed the hope that Ukraine and Russia would hold a month-long ceasefire in the war of aggression started by Russia during the Games. The hope came after Ukraine’s counterattack started.
– There are two options here: either the Kremlin has asked Infantino to hope for a ceasefire, or he himself has thought about how he could help his old friend, the former intelligence chief of the General Staff Pekka Toveri your line in Ilta-Sanom (you switch to another service)referring to the Russian president.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi presented to Fifa the wish to transmit a video message to the spectators at the final of the games, which Fifa did not agree to. However, the parties are have still continued (you will switch to another service) their discussions on the subject.
Regarding the future of the World Cup itself, he also said as a brisk chairman that he would be ready to organize the World Cup in North Korea so that he could “unite the world”.
These things also make me believe that things will not change in Fifa’s operations. Fifa and Infantino are ready to do anything for their money.
So, we can only expect to see Infantino in less than four years posing with a smile on his face, wishing people:
“Welcome To Saudi Arabia (you switch to another service)to Egypt and Greece in 2030!”