Europe should "apologise for the next 3000 years" for its past mistakes, according to the president of the world's governing body.
In an astonishing one-hour monologue which opened a Saturday news conference in Doha, Infantino, who will be re-elected as FIFA president next March, took aim at critics of the treatment of migrant workers.
Infantino said that they have been assisting in some places a lesson of double moral standards.
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We are told to learn a lot from Europeans in the west. I'm from Europe. We should apologize for what we've been doing for the next 3000 years before we start giving moral lessons.
Billions of dollars are earned by European companies in the region every year, but how many of them address migrant worker rights? If the legislation is changed it will mean less profits.
We did. It was less than any of the companies that came from the state of Qatar.
There are a lot of government representatives coming fromQatar. They can defend themselves and I don't need to defend them. Football and injustice are defended by me.
Nobody would pay attention if there was no gas. They all want something now that they're all here. Who cares about the people who work? The world's largest soccer organization does. To be fair to them, the World Cup and football do.
Infantino questioned European immigration policy and said the West could learn from the treatment of migrant workers.
He asked where they were going with their way of working. The world is going somewhere. If you look at the issue of migration and their situation of hundreds of thousands of women and men who would like to offer their services who would like to help and give a future to their families back home, you will see that Qatar is actually offering them this chance.
Migrant workers help their families to survive. They do it legally. Europe closes its borders and doesn't allow workers from other countries to work in our country. Living conditions for illegal workers in Europe are not the best.
Those who want to go to Europe have to go through a lot. Only a few are still alive. If you cared about the fate of these people, these young people, then Europe could create some legal channels where at least a number of these workers could come to Europe, lower revenues, but give them some future, give them.
This doesn't mean that we shouldn't point out that it works here. There are things that need to be fixed. This moral lesson is one-sided and hypocritical.
Infantino claimed he understood what it meant to be discriminated against as he began his speech.
Infantino focused his attention on the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer community in the country despite the country's strict laws against homosexuality.
Everyone is welcome, Infantino said. It's not the opinion of the country and it's certainly not the opinion of football's governing body. Everyone is required to be welcomed.
Everyone is welcome, no matter their faith, race, sexual orientation, belief or anything else. The requirement was ours and the state of Qatar is following it.
You will tell me that there are laws that prohibit that, but you have to go to jail These laws exist. There are many of them in the world. The World Cup took place in Switzerland in 1954. These are processes like for the workers.
Alcohol was banned from stadiums just two days before the opening match of the World Cup because fans were promised they would be able to buy beer.
"If this is the biggest issue we have for the World Cup, I will sign immediately and go to the beach and relax until 18th of December," Infantino said in a statement.
Every decision made at the World Cup is a joint decision by the two organizations. Each decision is made. It is taken together. You can buy alcohol in over 200 places in the country.
There's a guide to the World Cup in 2022.
Over 100,000 people can drink at the same time. If you can't drink a beer for three hours a day in France, Spain, or Portugal, you'll live. Beer is not permitted in the stadiums.
It becomes a big deal because it's a Muslim country. I'm not sure why. We attempted. A late change of policy is what I give you. We wanted to see if it could be done. One thing is to have plans and the other is when to put it in place.
You look at the flows of people, their safety going in and out, and attending different matches. This is something that has never been done before at the World Cup.
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