Qatari-owned beIN Sports DELETES clip of Gary Neville criticizing FIFA’s Gianni Infantino

Qatar-owned BeIN Sports has removed a video of football analyst Gary Neville heavily criticizing FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The game’s global governing body has come under attack for its decision to bring the World Cup to Qatar, where the spotlight is on the treatment of migrant workers and the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Infantino has come under fire after he compared his own experience as a red-haired child with that of gays and disabled people in his bizarre speech on Saturday.

The match opened on Sunday with Ecuador beating hosts Qatar 2-0, but in a remarkable hour-long monologue at his final pre-tournament press conference in Doha, Infantino made some statements that raised eyebrows.

“Today I have strong feelings,” he said. “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel handicapped. Today I feel like a guest worker. And I feel this because what I’ve seen and it brings me back to my personal story. I am a son of guest workers.

‘My parents worked very, very hard and in very, very difficult conditions – not in Qatar, in Switzerland. As a child I remember how migrant workers were treated when they looked for work and I remember what happened to their passports.’

Infantino said Europe could “do as Qatar did” by letting in migrant workers and providing them with a “legal” path to come to the country and work and live.

Former Manchester United defender Neville, who works for sports network beIN Sports for the showpiece tournament in Qatar, denounced Infantino as a “terrible face for football” in a clip posted on the Twitter account of the broadcaster.

However, the Qatar-owned channel later removed the post on Sunday.

“He’s a horrible face for football,” Neville said on beIN Sports. “Some of the things he said yesterday were inappropriate and should not be said by him.

“He should bring people together. He is the global representative of football. He shouldn’t be answerable to one or two nations, which he seemed to be doing yesterday. He must rise above it.

Some of his language yesterday was an absolute scandal. He shouldn’t use that kind of language. He shouldn’t use those sentences.’

Neville then compared the FIFA president to a number of other controversial world leaders, as he explained: “I’m tired of these leaders, like (Boris) Johnson, like (Donald) Trump, like Infantino, like (Sepp) Blatter. that do not unite, they divide.

“All their language is about division. Even though they try to think they bring people together, they don’t.’

The expert also spoke about how FIFA should revive its status within football.

He added: ‘Having played all over the world with Manchester United, there’s no doubt we should take football around the world.

“FIFA is a poor representation of what football is. It’s a beautiful game enjoyed by communities from Brazil to Bury, and I must say I think FIFA needs to clean up its act. It’s been bad for so long.’

Amnesty International hit back at Infantino for ‘rejecting the huge price migrant workers pay’.

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice released a statement that read: “By brushing aside legitimate human rights criticism, Gianni Infantino rejects the huge price migrant workers have paid to make his flagship tournament possible, as well as the responsibility of FIFA. before.

“Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some kind of culture war – they are universal human rights that FIFA has pledged to respect in its own statutes.”

While Nicholas McGeechan, director of Fair Square, a human rights research group, said: “Infantino’s remarks were as crass as they were clumsy and suggest the FIFA president is getting his talking points directly from the Qatari authorities.”