DOHA (Qatar): FIFA President Gianni Infantino has outlined three immediate priorities for FIFA to support football during and beyond the Covid-19.
In a video message specifically addressed to the 211 FIFA member associations and shared with members of the FIFA Council on Friday.
“Our first priority, our principle, the one we will use for our competitions and encourage everyone to follow is that health comes first,” Infantino was quoted as saying on the FIFA website.
He reiterated that health comes first and FIFA is ready to pro-actively help football through these exceptional circumstances, and that an ongoing consultation process is taking place to consider the future evolution of the sport.
“I cannot stress this enough. No match, no competition, no league is worth risking a single human life. Everyone in the world should have this very clear in their mind. It would be more than irresponsible to force competitions to resume if things are not 100 % safe. If we have to wait a little longer we must do so. It’s better to wait a little bit longer than to take any risks,” added Infantino.
The FIFA president singled out the member associations’ pro-active involvement in using football to pass important health messaging and sharing in their respective communities at this difficult time.
“This is what football and teamwork is all about,” he said, “and we have to continue like this,” he said.
“I am convinced football will play a key role to bring people back together when it’s safe to play again and be with our friends and families in large groups,” he concluded. “Let’s prepare for that moment…FIFA is with you in these difficult times, and together, we will win!” (Source: FIFA.com)
