He insists: the World Cup in Qatar is great. He does not allow criticism. That was just ‘hypocrisy’, FIFA president Gianni Infantino (52) scolded in a speech the day before the start of the World Cup. Infantino expressed solidarity with discriminated groups. Today he feels “like a Qatari”, “like an Arab”, “like a homosexual”, “like a disabled person” and “like a migrant worker”.
As a World Cup host, Qatar has been criticized for years for its treatment of foreign workers, women and representatives of the LGBTQ community. The English abbreviation LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
And the Walliser wants nothing to do with problems surrounding the World Cup. No wonder: he apparently gets along well with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (42), the emir of Qatar. Together with him he watched the opening of the World Cup from the stands.
He would have personally approved the murder of journalists
In general, it is interesting who was in the stands, such as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (37). After years of conflict, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are drawing closer again. In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain accused Qatar of supporting radical Islamist groups and getting too close to Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran. Doha had always denied the allegations.
The Saudi crown prince in turn made the news after journalist Jamal Khashoggi († 59) was murdered in 2018. According to US intelligence, the crown prince approved the assassination. Thereafter, bin Salman was treated as an outcast by Western countries. Infantino doesn’t seem to mind. He’s still hanging out with the Crown Prince.
Fifa legend is die-hard corona skeptic
The FIFA president not only surrounds himself with powerful, controversial rulers, but also with die-hard corona skeptics. Also in the stands were the controversial IOC president Thomas Bach (68) and the corona skeptic and conspiracy theorist Thomas Berthold (58), a German former football player.
Bach was mainly criticized in 2021 for allowing the controversial Olympic Games to take place despite all the concerns about the tense corona situation in Japan. The winter games in China then caused a stir. They had been overshadowed by the corona pandemic and political controversy.
Thomas Berthold is listed as a FIFA legend on the guest list. During his career, the German played for Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Bayern and VfB Stuttgart, among others. The defender completed 62 international matches, in 1990 he became world champion in Italy with the German national team. When Corona and the measures ruled the world, Berthold became the mouthpiece of the Corona skeptics. He publicly railed against the measures and the German government.