A day before Qatar kicked off their home World Cup with the opening game against Ecuador, FIFA president Gianni Infantino produced a wide-ranging and often peculiar monologue in defence of a tournament that has attracted sustained criticism since FIFA controversially awarded the hosting rights in 2010.Infantino attempted to addre s the wide-ranging aspects of the tournament that have come under heavier and more frequent unfavourable scrutiny in recent weeks Terrell Owens Jersey .The speech was met with a mix of confusion and condemnation by many. Campaigners Amnesty International said Infantino was guilty of "brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms" and "dismi sing the enormous price paid by migrant workers" to make the tournament po sible.Here's a look at what Infantino said and some of the reasons why.MORE: Infantino began by saying that his initial trip to meet migrant workers during the tournament planning had reminded him of his childhood as the son of migrants in Switzerland.The 52-year-old said he told people in Qatar at that point that aspects of what he had seen were not "good" or "right." "Switzerland has become an example of tolerance of nationalities working together with rights," he added. "Qatar has made progre s as well.Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.Of course, I am not Qatari, I am not an Arab, I am not African, I am not gay, I am not disabled. But I feel like it because I know what it means to be discriminated against , to be bullied, as a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child, I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles plus I was Italian, so didnt speak good German. What do you do then? You try to engage, make friends. Dont start accusing, fighting, insulting. You start engaging. And this is what we should be doing.The argument frequently made in favour of awarding the World Cup to Qatar is how a global event on this scale can lead to greater openne s and liberalisation.The fact similar mi sives were made in favour of Ru sia, where Infantino concluded the 2018 tournament by being awarded a medal by Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, means it is fair to treat them with scepticism."Despite government reforms, migrant workers continued to face labour abuses and struggled to change jobs freely," said in its report on Qatar last year.MORE: The awarding of the World Cup to such a small nation with a lack of footballing infrastructure meant a vast stadium-building programme began. The means by which this has been achieved and Le'Raven Clark Jersey its alleged cost casts the darkest shadow over the World Cup. state there were 37 deaths among workers at World Cup stadium construction sites between 2014 and 2020. Only three of these were cla sed as being construction related. Infantino reported this figure to the European Parliament in January, although the official state line has been widely disputed.A report from February 2021, citing records from national emba sies Mike Quick Jersey , claimed that more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar by the time of its report, since the Gulf nation was awarded the World Cup hosting rights in 2010.Other sources have suggested it is likely that the death toll from foreign workers in Qatar is actually a lot higher, as that figure only includes India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka not nations such as Philippines and Kenya, who also have large migrant workforces in the country. "When it comes to compensation of workers, you should know that there is a legal framework," said Infantino, attempting to provide a surances over the i sue as well as a riposte to those who have argued that FIFA should have been more decisive in driving change."We are in a sovereign country. You think FIFA can go to the USA, to England or Italy and tell the governments we were going to establish compensation for migrant workers in their country? At least all workers in Qatar, because they are legally here, have a compensation scheme."Qatar established a workers' and support insurance fund to support migrant workers. Since 2018, this fund has paid Ron Jaworski Jersey over $350 million US dollars to workers in need. The majority of that is for wages but also for accidents. Every worker that has an accident receives compensation by law."Depending on the magnitude, it can be several years of salary. I would suspect in the next four years, if nothing changes, then another $350m US will be paid.MORE:"If, in the past, if there was a worker who has not received compensation in accordance with the rules of Qatar, he or his family can go to the minister of labour to receive it. This is new by law."The deaths involved in creating the infrastructure for the World Cup cannot be officially attributed to a certain project or area of the Qatari construction industry, but they have occurred since the country was awarded World Cup rights in 2010 and started many projects to host the tournament including stadiums, roads, hotels, a new airport and public transport systems.According to the report, many migrant workers died from stre s-related injuries, such as heart attacks and strokes, because of high temperatures in Qatar nearly all year round.Infantino made reference to a "report" and called for "two steps back" to be taken, explaining: "I wondered why nobody asked for compensation for these migrants for their families? Where are we going with our way of working, guys? "We have to ask this of ourselves. If we go two steps back and look at this i sue of migration and the situation of hundreds and thousands of women and men from developing countries who would like to offer their services abroad in order to help and give a future to their families back home, Qatar is actually offering them this opportunity."They earn 10 times more than they earn in their own country and they help their families to survive. They do it in a legal way."Responding at the time to the allegations about human rights abuses in Qatar, the country's government said in a statement by a spokesperson: "The mortality rate among these communities is within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population. However, every lost life is a tragedy, and no effort is spared in trying to prevent every Anthony Harris Jersey death in our country." Namechecking Europe and "the western world", Infantino said: "We should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give more le sons to people."How many of these European or Western busine s companies who have millions and billions from Qatar how many of them have addre sed migrant workers rights with the authorities? None of them. But changing the legislation means le s profit.MORE:"But we did it and Fifa generates much, much le s than any of these companies from Qatar. I dont have to defend in any way whatsoever Qatar. They can defe