The Ukrainian president's office criticizes FIFA for refusing to broadcast the Ukrainian president's peace message during the World Cup final.
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| The final match of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be held in Doha on December 18. Argentina and France will compete for the World Cup title. |
Ukraine's president's office has criticized FIFA for refusing to broadcast President Zelensky's video message ahead of Sunday's FIFA World Cup final in Qatar 2022. CNN reported that the office issued a written statement to CNN saying the video, recorded in English, was meant to be a "call for peace."
"Qatar supported President (Zelensky)'s initiative, but FIFA blocked it and did not allow the president's video speech to be played before the final," the Ukrainian president's office said in a statement.
The Ukrainian president's office also stated that if FIFA does not broadcast President Zelensky's video speech, it will distribute the speech independently; FIFA's blocking of the speech will show that "FIFA no longer has a valuable understanding of football, That is, football is a sport that unites peoples rather than supporting existing divisions."
CNN reported that CCN sent inquiries to FIFA, but did not receive a response. Qatar has made no public comment on Ukraine's proposal to broadcast President Zelensky's speech ahead of the final.
CNN obtained a copy of Zelensky's pre-recorded video speech on Saturday. Zelensky said in the video that football is meant to bring people together. He called for "the World Cup, not a world war." He said: "The World Cup once again proves that different countries can decide who is the strongest through fair competition instead of playing with fire, and decide the outcome on the green field instead of on the battlefield."
The Ukrainian president's office told CNN that it had been informed by FIFA that Zelensky's message was too political, but that "the president's call to politicalize sporting events is anything but political, and the call does not contain subjective evaluations and comments." political message and does not contain accusations." "FIFA should not be afraid to hear the language of peace as football is celebrated around the world as a symbol of peace".
