Let football take center stage; Avoid giving lessons in morality: FIFA to teams ahead of World Cup

In a welcome move, FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma sent out a letter urging the players and coaches to let football take center stage and avoid giving lessons in morality. “Please, let's now focus on the football!” Infantino and Samoura wrote, asking the 32 soccer federations to “not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.” Qatar being picked in 2010 as World Cup host sparked scrutiny on its treatment of low-paid migrant workers needed to build projects costing tens of billions of dollars and its laws criminalizing same-sex relationships. Iranian fan groups want the federation suspended for discriminating against women, and Ukraine soccer officials asked FIFA to remove Iran from the World Cup for human rights violations and for supplying the Russian military with weapons. They repeated long-standing promises made by Qatar, including by its Emir at the United Nations general assembly in New York in September, that all visitors to Qatar will be welcome “regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality.” The tournament is expected to see an audience of around 1.2 million from November 20 to December 18.