FIFA President Gianni Infantino emphasised the important role football can play in tough times when meeting refugees from Afghanistan being housed at the Park View Villas complex in Doha on Saturday. The FIFA President joined HE Lolwah-Al Khater, Assistant Foreign Minister and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, and HE Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in visiting the facility.

“First of all, I would like to thank the Qatari people, the Qatari government and his Highness the Emir for the incredible efforts that are made by this country to welcome so many people from Afghanistan as they live through difficult moments of their lives but are able to come here as a safe haven,” the FIFA President said to assembled media. “The fact that this compound – something that was thought to be useful for the FIFA World Cup – has been able to be transformed into a home for people from Afghanistan for a transitional period is something that, of course, fills us with joy,” Mr Infantino added, having visited the nursery and the outdoor five-a-side football pitch at the facility.

The FIFA President also explained the important role that football has to play in supporting the Afghanistan people in these times of great difficulty, with the football community already mobilising itself to help football players and their families who are arriving in countries around the world after being forced to leave their homeland.