We are confident in the strength of our game, and Argentina v. France will be a perfect way to cap off a tournament where the game triumphed against issues that plagued it off the field. A brief statement made by Fifa President Gianni Infantino during his post-World Cup news conference.
It seems innocent enough in comparison to his initial remarks from four weeks prior, a rambunctious speech that went viral in a way uncommon for sports administrators. However, the statement grows more illuminating the longer you focus on the words.
Throughout Qatar 2022, there has been debate over football's influence. There has been much discussion on what the most watched spectator sport in the world symbolises, what it can accomplish, and what it can conceal. The tournament's grand finale will take place tomorrow when France and Argentina square off in the championship match. Perhaps it's time to come to some conclusions about the impact of such power while the rest of the world tunes in.
First, it may be concluded that football was influential enough to convince a small, excessively affluent Gulf state to invest a quarter of a trillion dollars. The estimated $220 billion price tag for hosting the World Cup has completely changed Qatar.
Seven stadiums, a metro system, and even a new city designed to resemble Lusail, the site of the final, have been constructed. Everything Qatar sought to show the world, including spectators at the event who travelled there and - more significantly - the many others watching on television, was brand-new.
It is impossible to measure the cost of creating this new Qatar just in terms of money. The death, injury, and exploitation of thousands of migrant labourers who were enticed to the Gulf throughout the years, months, weeks, and days running up to the World Cup have consistently received attention.
The lack of rights for LGBTQ+ persons in the nation was also brought to light, however less focus was placed on its discriminatory legislation against women.
A second conclusion regarding the influence of football is that it gave journalists and non-profit organisations the opportunity to draw attention to problems that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.
When the World Cup actually began, any such attention eventually started to fade. It was about time for Fifa. Infantino advised nations seeking assurances on a human rights legacy to "let football take the spotlight" prior to the competition. The issue of football's accountability for the pain brought on by the World Cup was kicked into the far future on the night of the first game after stating that he felt Qatari, homosexual, and a migrant worker in the same breath.
A "labour excellence centre" will eventually be constructed in Doha, according to Infantino. However, there wouldn't be a place for migrant workers to go to preserve their rights and there wouldn't be any money to compensate individuals who had suffered loss. Instead, a legacy fund would be used to support global child education. Unseen by the public, a number of European teams received orders to stop supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in the region by donning armbands.
Human rights were unimportant since the football had come in an entirely new way. A World Cup had never before been held in such a condensed geographic region; Al Bayt, the northernmost stadium, and Al Janoub, the southernmost, were separated by around 40 miles.
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