FIFA President Gianni Infantino called on G20 leaders on Tuesday for a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine for the duration of the soccer World Cup, which begins later this week.
A few days after he asked teams participating in the World Cup to avoid discussing political and human rights issues in Qatar in order to focus on soccer, Infantino seemed to ignore his own directive during a trip between the Persian Gulf country and Indonesia, where G20 leaders are currently meeting.
The World Cup starting on Sunday could be “a lever of change”, Infantino said, to restore peace after nine months of what FIFA described as “a conflict between Russia and Ukraine”.
“We are not naive, soccer will not solve the world’s problems,” the FIFA president told representatives of the most influential countries on the planet.
“My message, to all of you, is to think about a temporary ceasefire, for a month, while the World Cup is going on, or at least to establish humanitarian corridors, or something that can allow the resumption of dialogue [entre les deux pays] to restore peace,” he continued.
This suggestion of truce resembles that which is usually observed during the Olympics – a tradition of ancient Greece revisited by the United Nations which required that the fighting be interrupted in order to allow a safe passage to the Olympics.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, four days after the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games.
Iran in sight
Separately, the most politicized soccer World Cup of the modern era will begin amid civil crisis in Iran following the tragic death in September of a 22-year-old woman detained by the country’s morality police. .
Iran begin their World Cup campaign on Monday against England – and will meet the United States in Group B a little later – and some players have already spoken out in favor of the protests that are rocking the country streets.
“Everyone has the right to express themselves freely,” the team’s Portuguese head coach, Carlos Quieroz, said at a press conference on Tuesday, adding that it would not be a source of distraction.
“It is out of the question that the Iranian national team will be affected by issues like this. They want to write a page of history,” he added.
Iran have never made it past the group stage at the World Cup.