FIFA president Gianni Infantino pushes back against Qatar criticism

FIFA President Gianni Infantino kicked off a press conference on Saturday by going on a lengthy rant regarding the criticism Qatar has faced in advance of the 2022 World Cup.

Ever since Qatar was awarded this year's tournament, the country has faced intense criticism for its human rights record, as well as the treatment and working conditions for workers while constructing stadiums around the country.

Infantino accused the West of hypocrisy and said European companies should spend the next 3,000 years apologizing for its own issues.

Here is part of his speech, via ESPN:

"What is sad is that especially in the last weeks, we have been witnessing in some places a real lesson of moral, of double moral [standards]," Infantino said. "We are told to make many lessons from some Europeans, from the Western world. I'm European. I think for what we Europeans have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people. 

"How many of these European companies who earn millions and millions from Qatar or other countries in the region — billions every year — how many of them have addressed migrant-worker rights? I have the answer: None of them because if they change the legislation it means less profits. But we did. And FIFA generated much, much, much less than any of these companies, from Qatar."

Infantino went on to say that Qatar has made progress over the years with human rights, and that change takes a lot of time. 

He also made a bizarre comparison between the criticism of Qatar's human rights records with how he was bullied as a kid for having red hair and freckles. 

"Today I have very strong feelings, today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arab, today I feel African, today I feel gay, today I feel disabled, today I feel a migrant worker," before claiming he understood what it meant to be discriminated against because "as a foreigner in a foreign country, as a child at school I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles."

Infantino also insisted he is still in charge of the tournament and making decisions, despite the fact Qatar officials abruptly reversed course on allowing beer sales within stadiums just two days before the tournament begins.

The decision to award Qatar the World Cup has been controversial for years, and it was only a couple of weeks ago that the disgraced former leader of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, called the decision (that he was in charge of) a mistake.