FIFA boss branded 'numty' for comparing his red hair to being gay in Qatar

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been called 'numpty' after saying he knows what it's like to be gay and disabled in Qatar.

Addressing the controversy over the staging of the World Cup on the eve of its kick-off, the boss of international football governing body compared his childhood bullying for having red hair with suffering migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community in the Arab kingdom, where homosexuality is prohibited.

Speaking to 400 journalists, the Italian - who earns an estimated £25million a year, compared to the 82p an hour migrants were paid to build the stadiums - launched into a bizarre hour-long rant.

He opened it saying, "Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel like a migrant worker.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino at a press conference (

Picture:

PENNSYLVANIA)

“We have received many lessons from Europeans. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years in the world, we should apologize for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons.

"If Europe really cares about the fate of these people, it can create legal channels like Qatar did, where a number of these workers can come and work in Europe. Give them a future, hope."

"Of course, I'm not Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled or a migrant worker. But I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated against and bullied as a foreigner in a foreign country. As a child, I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles."

"I don't have to defend Qatar, it will be the best World Cup ever."