FIFA President urged everyone to return to the negotiating table to seek peace following Israel’s attack on Qatar.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has expressed solidarity with Qatar in the aftermath of the Israeli strike targeting a residential complex in Doha, where members of Hamas’ negotiating delegation were staying.
“My thoughts and sympathies are with Qatar and the innocent people of Qatar who have been impacted by today’s events in Doha,” Infantino posted in his official Instagram account.
Six people, including five Hamas members and a Qatari Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) officer, were killed in the strikes, with efforts ongoing to locate and identify two missing individuals, according to the country’s Ministry of Interior.
The attack on Tuesday afternoon was unprecedented, as Qatar has been a mediator between Hamas and Israel, alongside the U.S. and Egypt, since October 2023.
Qatar had never been attacked in recent times, bar the Iranian airstrikes targeting the Al-Udeid Air Base earlier in June.
Infantino joined various leaders from around the world in expressing solidarity as well as acknowledging Qatar’s role as a peace-broker in the region, yet did not condemn Israeli actions.
“Having so successfully welcomed the world for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, we know Qatar as a nation which has built so many bridges in our troubled world,” he said.
Reports from the Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick, released in the precursor to the World Cup in Qatar, had revealed that the FIFA President had been a Doha resident for a year before the tournament.
FIFA “urges all parties to return to dialogue and to restore peace in the region with immediate effect,” Infantino added.
Qatar is set to host three tournaments under FIFA’s jurisdiction later this year, including the U-17 World Cup, Arab Cup and the last three matches of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
The Gulf nation was officially announced as the host of the next five editions of the youth competition in March 2024, ahead of the 74th FIFA Congress, deciding to hold it annually rather than biennially.
After becoming the first-ever country in the Arab world to host the senior men’s World Cup in 2022, Qatar will repeat the same feat for the U-17 tournament, set to be held from November 3 to 27.
Similarly, the Arab Cup will be held from December 1 to 18, the first of the next three quadrennial tournaments set to be hosted by Qatar.
The country also hosted the 2021 edition as the prelude to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was also the first regional tournament under FIFA’s jurisdiction.
Paris Saint-Germain, the Qatar Sports Investment majority-owned French side, will play the FIFA Intercontinental Cup finals on December 17.
