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FIFA has denied Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal to share a message of peace before the kickoff at the World Cup final Sunday, CNN reported.
Zelensky offered the soccer regulating body to appear in a remote video linked to the stadium in Qatar but received a negative response, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
“We thought FIFA wanted to use its platform for the greater good,” the source said.
The source did say discussions between Ukraine and the sport’s governing body are still underway.
Zelensky has appeared via video at the Grammys, Cannes Film Festival, Virtual Events At Chatham House and the Group of 20 National Summit. The president recently appeared on David Letterman’s “My Next Guest” talk show in Kyiv.
FIFA has tried to keep political messaging out of the tournament in Qatar, a country with strict guidelines for media and journalists.
Criticism of the wealthy Gulf state’s treatment of LGBTQ people and migrant workers grew louder in the weeks leading up to the World Cup. Yet, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had an argumentative response shortly before the tournament began, accusing Europe and the West of hypocrisy.
Additional FIFA and seven European nations later threatened sanctions for any player wearing a “OneLove,” LGBTQ armband during games.
The armband, intended to be worn by captains from England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Wales, and Switzerland, featured a striped heart in different colors to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders, and sexualities to promote human rights. At a news conference Friday, Infantino said FIFA had stopped some “political statements” in Qatar because it has to “take care of everyone.”
“We are a global organization, and we don’t discriminate against anyone,” Infantino said.
“We are defending values. We are defending human rights and rights of everyone at the World Cup. Those fans and the billions watching on TV, they have their own problems. They just want to watch 90 or 120 minutes without having to think about anything but just enjoying a little moment of pleasure and joy. We have to give them a moment when they can forget about their problems and enjoy football.”
CNN reached out to FIFA for comment about Zelensky’s request, but it did not respond.
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