Amnesty International SLAMS Gianni Infantino for ‘brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms’

Amnesty International have hit back at Gianni Infantino for ‘dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers’ after the FIFA President gave a bizarre speech defending Qatar on the eve of the World Cup.

Infantino claimed he ‘felt like a migrant worker’ before suggesting that if if Europe ‘really cared’ about migrant workers they could do as Qatar did and offer a ‘legal’ passage into the countries.

It came after protests around the football world against the World Cup in Qatar, with Bundesliga clubs displaying banners in protest and Amnesty International demonstrating in Lisbon.

Gianni Infantino has been criticised by Amnesty International for ‘ignoring human rights criticisms’

The FIFA president defended Qatar on the eve of the World Cup in a bizarre speech

In response to Infantino’s comments, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice has released a statement that reads: ‘In brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms, Gianni Infantino is dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers to make his flagship tournament possible – as well as FIFA’s responsibility for it. 

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‘Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some sort of culture war – they are universal human rights that FIFA has committed to respect in its own statutes.’

Cockburn went on to discuss how important it was for the workers who suffered while preparing Qatar for the World Cup to be compensated.

Amnesty International urged FIFA to use the World Cup’s legacy fund to compensate workers

He continued: ‘If there is one tiny glimmer of hope, it is that Infantino announced that FIFA would establish a legacy fund after the World Cup. This cannot be mere window dressing, however. 

‘If FIFA is to salvage anything from this tournament, it must announce that it will invest a significant part of the $6 billion the organisation will make from this tournament and make sure this fund is used to compensate workers and their families directly.’

It is believed that as many as 6,500 migrant workers may have died while preparing Qatar for the World Cup, although the tournament’s organisers claim the figure is just 37, with only three coming from workplace accidents.