KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: President Gianni Infantino sought to put a positive spin on preparations for the World Cup in Qatar after a spat erupted on the floor of FIFA Congress in Doha over human rights and migrant workers’ conditions.

Qatar hosts the World Cup finals in November and December and is still allaying international concerns over the twin issues which have been as much a focus of contention as the original hosting award back in December 2010.

Supreme Committee organising officials have worked hard to counter criticism by implementing employment contracts and regulations of a higher standard than in many other parts of the world, let alone the Middle East. But that has not been enough for some.

One critic was Lise Klaveness, elected in March as the first woman president of the Norwegian football federation. She took to the FIFA Congress stage in Doha to deliver a critical address on behalf of all the Nordic federations.

Klaveness recalled that her federation’s members had voted against a World Cup boycott because of an easing of concerns over human rights but complained that “there is still a long way to go.”

In issuing an idealist’s wish list, she demanded that FIFA’s “current leadership wholeheartedly continue in this way, truly moving from policy to impact.”

This meant: “There is no room for employers who do not secure the freedom and safety of world cup workers; no room for leaders that cannot host the women´s game; no room for hosts that cannot legally guarantee the safety and respect of LGBTQ+ people coming to this theatre of dreams.”

Klaveness was then slapped down twice over.

First, Jose Ernesto Mejia, general secretary of the Honduras FA, protested that FIFA Congress was the wrong forum for such issues because delegates should limit their debates only to football.

Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary-general of the Supreme Committee, then complained directly to Klaveness that, despite flying to Qatar for Congress, “you made no request for a meeting, you made no attempt to engage in dialogue.”

Al Thawadi conceded the challenges which Qatar had confronted in preparing for the World Cup but took pride in the progress which had seen “outspoken adversaries” including international labour unions become “allies and partners.”

He added: “They recognised the gravity of our commitment to progress. Our government has always committed to this process and the World Cup has assisted such progress. Other international entities could learn from the lessons of Qatar.

“We have always opened our doors, we are always ready for dialogue, to educate everybody. Knock on our doors, see what is happening and when you see what we have done we will be the benchmark to which future tournaments will look.”

Infantino, in his closing remarks, praised the Qatari authorities for the “exemplary” manner in which they had implemented change.

He added: “The work that, in other countries, has taken decades has been done here in a few years. Not everything is perfect, it’s not paradise, but no country is paradise.”

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