Arjen Lubach calls on the KNVB to leave FIFA together with other countries. The comedian dedicated part of his humorous current affairs program on Wednesday evening The Evening Show with Arjen Lubach to corruption within the World Football Association. The re-election of president Gianni Infantino was also discussed.
The fact that the Netherlands voted in favor of Infantino’s reappointment went down the wrong way with Lubach. “We Dutch are too cowardly to say anything about FIFA. We now have a new KNVB chairman, Just Spee. His first name means fair. I know it’s just a name, but then you have certain expectations. About three minutes after taking office, he said: ‘I think it’s good that the World Cup is in Qatar.'”
Other statements that Spee made in interviews also did not appeal to Lubach. “He says about human rights: ‘In China, for example, they think it is a human right that everyone can work. We don’t in the Netherlands. Does that make our definition of human rights better?'” Lubach quoted an interview by Spee with NRC Handelsblad in 2020. “Yes, Just! That you are going to bring in China’s human rights in defense of Qatar… In Pakistan they think that children should also work, is that worse? Yes, Just, yes, shut up.”
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“So this is always that fucking hypocritical attitude of the Netherlands towards FIFA,” continued the presenter of the popular NPO 1 program. “We all just let it happen a little bit and even many journalists have resigned themselves to it.” Lubach showed that NOS journalist Jeroen Stekelenburg at the table of Studio Football estimated the number of ‘FIFA-critical’ countries at fifteen. “You can’t really make a fist with that,” said Stekelenburg.
Lubach, however, called on those fifteen countries to unite. “Those are about the best and richest football countries in the world. If they no longer participate, FIFA will have a real problem. Then it will be a shitty World Cup and that will not make FIFA any money. So let’s get out of FIFA steps with all countries that no longer feel like corruption.” He addressed other countries in their language and concluded: “Let’s all get the fuck out of FIFATo Just Spee he finally said: “Just do it.”
The full fragment from the broadcast can be viewed via the link in the tweet below.
