1 February / 1 février 2022
1st part of the 2022 Ordinary Session (24-28 January 2022)
1ère partie de la Session ordinaire de 2022 (24-28 janvier 2022)
The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
has
generated considerable media coverage, making it one of the best covered plenaries in the past
couple of years (pls. see Statistical information below).
The debate on the football governance,
its business and values was the main highlight of
the session, in particular the participation of Gianni Infantino, the President of the world football
governing body FIFA, (CNN,
AP, AFP, Reuters, Politico, Eurosport, The Guardian, USA Today, PA,
The Independent, The Daily Mirror, L’Equipe, Le Prisien, Europe 1, Liberation.fr, Le Matin, ARD,
FAZ, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, Der Spiegel, TAZ, Corriere della Sera, ANSA, RAI Sport, La
Repubblica, EFE, El Pais, AS, Lusa, Kommersant, The Irish Times, Inside the Games, The Journal,
Metro, Le Soir, Belga, La Libre Belgique, NZZ, Dnevnik, ANA, etc.).
The media widely quoted Mr Infantino as saying that a biennial World Cup could “give hope to
Africans so that they don't need to cross the Mediterranean in order to find, maybe, a better life,
but more probably death in the sea”. This triggered an outpour of criticism and numerous
scathing opinion articles in some of the European and global media.
Mr Infantino later said that his general comment had been misinterpreted: “If there are more
opportunities available, including in Africa, but certainly not limited to that continent, this should
allow people to take these opportunities in their own countries. This was a general comment.”
However, most articles also mention that the Assembly adopted a resolution calling on main
stakeholders in football to put human rights and values at the heart of the sport. The text
prepared by Lord George Foulkes sets out a series of recommendations to FIFA, UEFA and other
bodies involved in football, insisting that business must not take precedence over values.
The election of Tiny Kox as the new PACE President
was widely covered
(AFP, Agence
Europe, Le Figaro, L'Humanité, Bulletin Quotidien, ANSA, SIR, EFE, ANP, Belga, Trouw, Index.hu,
Rossiyskaya gazeta, Nezavisimaya gazeta, TASS, Sputnik, Ukrainian News, Ukrainskaya pravda,
UNIAN, RBC-Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine, TASR, Teraz, ERT, Danas, N1, Nova.rs, MAP, RTV San
Marino, Turan, News.am, etc.).
The reports said that he was elected with an absolute majority in the first round of voting with
164 votes to 80 for the other candidate, Ukrainian parliamentarian Mariia Mezentseva.
Several media highlighted the PACE
Resolution on the poisoning of Alexei Navalny,
which
calls on Russia to launch an investigation (independent of the FSB) into the case, to investigate
allegations of the development and use of chemical weapons on its territory and to agree on a
technical assistance visit by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The
Assembly also calls for the immediate release of Mr Navalny under the interim measure indicated
by the European Court of Human Rights.
(AFP, Agence Europe, DW, Voice of America, ANSA,
SIR, TV Rain, Lusa, etc.)