Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has hit out at FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of the World Cup opener between Qatar and Ecuador this afternoon.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Infantino said (via Eurosport): “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled.”
Infantino proceeded to slam Europe’s criticism of Qatar for hosting the tournament, and all of the corruption involved, by labelling them ‘hypocrites’. Neville knows a thing or two about facing criticism for accepting a role as part of the punditry team on BeIN Sports and ITV considering his firm political associations and previous criticism of the World Cup taking place in Qatar.
But it doesn’t come as a surprise to hear the FIFA president being widely slammed for his remarks. They were ridiculous and you just know trouble is on the horizon every time he speaks. We can’t forget that Qatar has been condemned for their human rights abuse as well as the deaths of migrant workers during the construction of stadiums.
More Stories / Latest NewsAppearing on BeIN Sports, a Qatari based broadcaster, Neville took aim at Infantino.
“I went all around the world playing with Manchester United to the Middle East, to the Far East, to Asia, to Australia, to Africa and there is no doubt that we should be taking football all around the world,” Neville said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “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.”
The broadcaster initially shared the clip on Twitter but have since deleted the tweet.
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