FIFA president Gianni Infantino admits Qatar is “not paradise” but insists he is seeing positive changes in the country ahead of this year’s World Cup.
Qatar has come under scrutiny for its human rights record and conditions for migrant workers since being announced as hosts for the 2022 football showpiece.
Improvements have been made, including the introduction of a minimum wage to the dismantling of the “kafala” sponsorship system binding workers to their employer.
Qatar, however, remains firmly in the spotlight ahead of this year’s World Cup and Infantino admits more can be done.
“Of course it’s not paradise,” he told the Associated Press. “Of course it’s not perfect. Of course there is still work to be done. But we need to stay there.
“We need to continue. We need to work together. We need to encourage change because not everyone wants change, even in Qatar or in the Gulf. But the leadership wants change.
“The legacy in terms of human rights, workers’ rights is, and has been, reached already before the World Cup. It’s important that it is here to stay and it will stay. It will stay because it is enshrined in legislation.”
Another area of contention around the Qatar World Cup is the fact that same-sex relations are illegal in the country.
England manager Gareth Southgate recently voiced his concern and added: “It would be horrible to think some of our fans feel they can’t go because they feel threatened or they’re worried about their safety.”
But Infantino said: “Everyone will see that everyone is welcome here in Qatar, even if we speak about LGBTQ+.
“I really believe that when I hear some of the voices that, ‘Well an Arab country doesn’t deserve to organise a World Cup because there is no history of football’ or some nonsense like that I completely disagree … because the whole world deserves to have the World Cup.
“This time it is in an Arab country. There were some issues. We have been able to help a little bit addressing them. They have been addressed.”
