Margaritis Schoinas with Gianni Infantino FIFA President in Zurich (Switzerland)

DF: About the issue of the World Cup to be held in Qatar and the British continuing to be extremely negative , what exactly is the position of the EU?

"For us in Europe, the holding of the World Cup in Qatar will be essentially to return to normalcy. This area is important from a geopolitical point of view. Here we must emphasize that Qatar, which will be the first country in the Middle East to host the world's top football event, has changed its labor laws. In a meeting I had with the Secretary-General Al Tagwadi and the Qatari Minister of Labor in Brussels in October, they assured me of the changes that followed and promised that they were ready. "

DF: Yes, but the British who cannot forget their defeat, in December 2010 continue to wage war in Qatar, talking about many dead...

"It's here we have to put things right. A Guardian report cited work-related accidents that claimed the lives of 6,000 people. But their data were wrong and they corrected it.

DF: You spoke at some point about the abuse of young footballers. Could you analyze this issue a little more?.

"There has been a great deal of investigation by FIFA into incidents of abuse of young footballers focusing on Afghanistan and other parts of the world. FIFA's goal is to create an independent institution that will help these children. In fact, the former President of the European Court of Justice, Vassilis Skouris, plays an important role in this matter, who as the chairman of the Ethics and Ethics Committee of the World Federation dealt with the issue ".

DF: As we know, the European Union and you personally have opposed the possible creation of the European Super League.

"Our position was clear, like that of almost all European governments, towards the creation of a closed league that would only have certain teams. The reaction was very strong since apart from UEFA, the Governments, players, fans, advertisers and political forces from all walks of life, all opposed this move. It was not right for 10-12 or even 14 powerful teams belonging to Russians, Americans or Arabs to have a monopoly, to share an amount of 5 billion euros every year, turning their backs on national federations, national championships and break the relationship with youth football, women and amateurs. It is something purely anti-European ... "

DF: How are the relations between the European Union and UEFA at the moment, as years ago they were not the best…

"I have to say it's probably the best it could be. UEFA has helped us on several issues. We campaigned together for cancer, obesity, racism. We know and respect that UEFA is at a central position in the field of European football. It has autonomy and self-government and we respect it completely. We are simply responsible for defending fundamental freedoms, as in the past in the Bosman case that went to the European Court of Justice. We do not pursue politics, we just have a responsibility to defend the model of Sports and the EU Treaties ".

DF: How do you judge FIFA's proposal to hold the final phase of the World Cup every 2 years?.

"As I already told you, we have our reservations if and when it happens. Of course we can not intervene. We disagree, something we have said publicly, but there is autonomy of the World Federation. But the overall picture we have is that Europeans and others are reacting. The product will certainly be over saturated and over-commercialized, while the sports calendar will also change. "I think that from what I saw, FIFA does not want to impose it but to have an agreement from everyone."

DF: Would there be a case after various incidents that happened in the CAS (Three-Member Arbitration Court of Lausanne) for the European Union to come into play? And I am referring to the change of decision of Manchester City that while it had been punished with a 2-year ban, in Lausanne the decision was overturned...

"There is no way the European Union can get involved. There is full autonomy of these structures of jurisdiction. "

DF: Let’s change the subject and look at immigration…

"We have proposed a European agreement from September 2020, but for now the states have not agreed. Unfortunately, this often forces us to work as firefighters to help when a crisis strikes. We aspire to find them in a new great European authority, in key parameters, in border control, in relations with countries of origin and transit, and in solidarity between Member States. We want to be the architects of a new coherent, holistic policy so that things work better overall. "Certainly things are better in this area than they were in 2015-0216."

DF: What happens to the vaccine?

"I think we have achieved a great success. After a period of 2 years, now the European citizen with 2-3 installments feels safer. He has done the vaccinations for free without burdening his income. Of course the O variant is treated as best it can and the effort for its complete treatment will continue. We created the Recovery Fund and we always follow the recommendations of the experts. "With the current situation, I hope that the horizon for the pandemic to end - or at least ease - will be this spring."