October 14 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has attended the Middle East peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The football official was an unexpected figure among the world leaders, heads of state and government politicians who had gathered in the Egyptian city to “end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability” according to the Egyptian presidency, a co-host together with US president Donald Trump.
Infantino said he had been invited to the summit by Trump. The football boss is one of few Europeans who enjoys unprecedented access to the US President. Last week, Infantino backed Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
After the Peace Summit, Infantino said on Instagram that FIFA would “help to bring football back – together with the Palestinian Football Association – in every corner of the country” and that it would “launch a fund to help rebuild football infrastructure.”
The summit wraps up a busy period for Infantino, who recently attended the CAF general assembly in Kinshasa, the general assembly of the old ECA, and received Kosovo’s Presidential Medal in Pristina. He also met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa.
But his appearance in Sharm El Sheikh was met with astonishment and criticism in some quarters. Nick McGeehan, co-director of the NGO Fairsquare, said: “Gianni Infantino’s presence and comments at Sharm el-Sheikh are highly significant and deeply troubling. Infantino has abandoned all pretence of the political neutrality that FIFA espouses and is statutorily committed to uphold, and has put FIFA firmly in the corner of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It now appears clear that Infantino intends to use this deeply flawed peace process to circumvent FIFA’s responsibilities viz a viz Israel. It is vitally important that the Palestinian Football Association resist any appeals from FIFA for it to drop its complaint about the Israel Football Association, and that it continue its campaign for justice and accountability.”
For more than a decade, the Palestine FA has demanded that FIFA act against Israeli settlement clubs in the West Bank. Recently, there was a growing clamour among European football officials to suspend Israel from the international game, but UEFA never scheduled a meeting to stage a vote as Trump proposed a 20-point peace Middle East plan.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1760444017labto1760444017ofdlr1760444017owedi1760444017sni@i1760444017tnuk.1760444017ardni1760444017mas1760444017
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