FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended Russia's human rights record on Tuesday in his first visit to the 2018 World Cup host nation since taking charge of soccer's governing body, saying the country was ''open and welcoming.'' The visit came a week after a human rights report by Harvard professor John Ruggie, commissioned by FIFA, raised concerns about Russia's law prohibiting gay ''propaganda'' and the treatment of migrant workers. ''FIFA is not the world welfare agency but we have to be responsible about these things, we have to be responsible about the position we take about human rights,'' Infantino said when asked about Ruggie's concerns. ''We have to address all the issues and I think that these events give the opportunity to speak about topics which maybe are not pleasant, which maybe sometimes are not directly linked.'' Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who was sitting beside Infantino, defended the gay propaganda law, saying that ''no one has been persecuted, no one is persecuted.'' Infantino pointed to Mutko and said: ''Your answer, straight and direct. Welcome, it's an open and welcoming country.'' Infantino began his tour Tuesday with a visit to Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, which is undergoing a major rebuild to be ready for the World Cup final. Infantino looked over the construction site of the 81,000-seat stadium with Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin and gave a double thumbs-up gesture. While the pitch area is still sand, criss-crossed by construction machinery, the basic concrete structure of the stands is in place. The new FIFA president is on a four-day tour of Russia and Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup. (For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/203967.aspx
