DOHA: England and the Netherlands will be the first World Cup heavyweights to arrive in Qatar on Tuesday as FIFA President Gianni Infantino again urged teams to focus on football.
The pleas from football’s world governing body have struggled to be heard in some countries as the countdown to Sunday’s kick-off has intensified the focus on Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers, women, and the LGBTQ community.
FIFA launched its “Football Unites the World” campaign with a video featuring star players including Neymar, Karim Benzema, and Edouard Mendy.
Infantino said: “Although football is and should be our main focus, the FIFA World Cup is also about values and causes that extend far beyond the pitch and we are delighted that football stars past and present have joined us to promote and highlight these topics, which also unite the whole world.”
Players are Here to Play Football, CEO Danish Football Association
Jakob Jensen, CEO of the Danish Football Association said: “The players are here to play football, they’re dreaming of winning the World Cup. They should be able to focus on playing.”
Qatar has rejected many of the accusations against its rights record as “racism”.
The country of barely three million people and one of the world’s biggest producers of natural gas, has spent lavishly to build stadiums and infrastructure since winning the shock vote in 2010.
New stadiums have cost more than $6.5 billion and a driverless metro system with a price tag of $36 billion serves five of the eight venues. Some estimates put total infrastructure spending over the past decade at $200 billion.
