Lula: “This is not the time to judge Qatar’s election”

The elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvasaid Friday that it was not time to “judge” the election of Qatar for the organization of the FIFA World Cup that starts on Sunday.

“I don’t know what the criteria are for choosing Qatar. Anyway, it’s not up to us to judge the criteria. The choice was made, it was decided,” he said in Lisbon, after meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa. “The teams have been called, they have started training. What we want is for the players to play well so that we can all give a show,” added Lula da Silva.

Since it was appointed at the end of 2010 to organize this planetary event, which surprised everyone at the expense of the United States, Qatar has been the target of many criticisms: accusations of corruption to win, reserved fate for migrant workers, respect for the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people, environmental impact of the contest…

On the sports side, the Brazilian president-elect said he “sincerely” and “humblely” believes in his country’s chances of winning the tournament. “After twenty years, it’s time for Brazil to be world champions again,” he said at a press conference with Portugal’s prime minister.

“First, because some important teams are not doing well. Second, because a four-time champion country, which is Italy, is not going. Third, because Cristiano Ronaldo is not playing like he did fifteen years ago ,” he added, making Costa smile.

The head of the Portuguese Government, for his part, wants to distinguish support for the Portuguese team from political considerations regarding the host country of the World Cup.

“When we go there, we will certainly not go to support the regime in Qatar, the violation of human rights in Qatar or the discrimination of women in Qatar. No, we will go to support the national team,” he said.