May 14 – Addressing the 34th AFC Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for unity amongst world football’s federations but stopped short of proposing any concrete action against Israel over the war on Hamas and the resulting destruction of Gaza and the knock-on effect in the West Bank for all Palestinians.
“We are only as strong as we are united,” Infantino told Asia’s federation presidents, the day before FIFA’s own annual congress in Bangkok.
“Unity… we are all suffering with what is going on in Palestine. We pray for their children and children suffering everywhere in the world,” he continued.
“Football can do very little to change situations. What we can do is show unity because football unites everyone.”
Rather than taking regulatory action to use the power of football to sanction Israel and attempt to force a change of policy, Infantino seems to prefer to hope the soft power of football will contribute to a solution.
“We try to use the power of football to bring people and communities together, to concentrate and focus on what we share. This is much more important for our children… We are united in the AFC, FIFA and the FIFA Council to be able to play… get more of the world to know each other better. We have to continue on this path.”
It was a woolly and unconvincing response to a horrific problem that only minutes before had seen AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa tell congress that “when one suffers, we all suffer”, and that “we stand together with the Palestine FA…We have a duty to ensure our beautiful game is enjoyed by those who need it.”
In his address, Infantino was more positive about tackling discrimination, saying that there needs to be a “global stand against racism. It is important to get rid of racism in football”. The impression was that there would be more to come on this issue from Friday’s FIFA Congress.
But even here Infantino’s rhetoric needs to be watched carefully. After all, this was the FIFA president that disbanded the anti-racism committee set up by his predecessor Sepp Blatter within months of being elected president of FIFA in 2016, saying that it was no longer required.
While he received polite applause from an always respectful AFC audience, Infantino has more to do to win respect on some of the world’s most divisive moral issues.
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