January 24 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in Europe at the weekend and hosted a meeting with European Commission vice-president Margaritas Schinas with an agenda that included both the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the ‘future of football’.
The EC has been wary of FIFA’s plans for game globally and how it would impact the European sports model, as well as declaring concern over the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the country’s human rights record.
Also present at the meeting was EU Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Petros Mavromichalis. A FIFA press release said the meetings in Zurich were “for bilateral discussions on a host of key issues around football, society and the development of the global game.”
The international match calendar, and proposals for turning the quadrennial World Cup to a biennial event were on the agenda, as were transfer reforms. The EC has come out against a biennial event and has called on FIFA to speed up reforms of the transfer system, a process that has accelerated.
Infantino, who has moved his personal base of operation to Qatar, was quick to point out the progress the country has made.
“Thanks to the FIFA World Cup a profound change is taking place in Qatar – leading the way for the region to follow,” said Infantino. “As independent international experts have repeatedly stated, almost never in history has a state accomplished such profound reforms in such a short time.”
Recognising the opportunity to discuss with the EC he said: “The European Commission is an important partner both in Europe and worldwide in many aspects related to the development of football, from our ongoing work in creating the first ever independent international safe sports entity, to the reforms of the international transfer system and in relation to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the international match calendar.”
Schinas similarly welcomed the discussion and at the start of a year that he said was a very important one “for sport, for Europe and for young people across the world.”
“I welcome President Infantino discussing openly with us the progress that has been made in Qatar since 2010, as well as the opportunity to discuss the future of football consultation process, the international transfer system reform plans and the honourable work being done to ensure all those involved in sport can do so in a safe and secure way,” he said.
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