As I was listening to the news yesterday morning, I heard the story of the German football players who protested against the World Cup in Qatar, drawing letters on their T'shirts spelling out the words "Human Rights".
A few days earlier, the same thing had happened with their Norwegian counterparts.
Some would say that this is pure hypocrisy, as the World Cup is due to take place in November this year and everyone knew that the choice of QATAR was dubious from 2010, at least from an environmental point of view.
Now, with the Guardian's revelations, the human rights component is entering the debate.
But better late than never, right?
This could mean a salutary awakening in the football arena and a chance for the football world to position itself as a force for social transformation.
Indeed, football players, as popular icons, are the best ambassadors one can imagine to draw attention to the major issues facing our world, and help change the minds of billions of people (Fifa indicates "Audit shows a record 3.572 billion people watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™")
The challenges of our time require companies and institutions to position themselves in relation to major societal choices and take into account environmental, social, economic, ethical and even cultural and technological issues in their activities. No one is safe anymore, not even FIFA. It is time to question and to act responsibly.
By deciding to organise the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA bears a huge responsibility in terms of CSR, not only on the social level but also on the environmental level.
Like any company today, it urgently needs to look at a strong CSR policy and redefine its focus to include its impact on the wider community.
This is a time for economic actors to question themselves. What kind of future do they want? why are they doing what they are doing? And what are the values that they are promoting?
But will FIFA seize this unique opportunity to be an agent of change or will it continue to give priority to its financial interests?
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