Photo of FIFA boss with hair circulates after claim he was bullied for being ginger

An old photo of FIFA President Gianni Infantino has surfaced online, after he claimed that he was bullied for having red hair and freckles as a kid.

Earlier this week, Infantino compared his experience of being bullied for his hair to that of people experiencing persecution for their sexuality, race, ethnicity, job, or disability.

His comments come after several countries criticized Qatar for hosting the World Cup accusing the country of sportswashing, migrant worker deaths, offensive attitudes to the LGBTQ+ community, claims of modern slavery, and a host of other problems.

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“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker," Infantino said defending Qatar.

"I know what it means to be discriminated [against], to be bullied, as a foreigner in a foreign country," he added. “As a child, I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles."

Infantino, 52, is currently bald and has been since, at least, 2007.

But an alleged photo of Infantino reveals that he did have hair.

The alleged photo of Infantino was taken at a family gathering years ago.

According to the Daily Mail,it was apparently used in a local Italian news station's program on Infantino after he became FIFA president in 2016.

Infantino's cousin, Renato Vitetta, told MailOnline that he understand where Infantino was coming from.

"You have to remember that at that time he was growing up he was the son of Italian migrants and he had ginger hair and stood out [a bit]," Vitetta said. "Back in [those days] when he was a child, Italian migrants weren't seen in the best possible light."

Infantino's speech where he compared being bullied to accusations against Qatar received negative backlash in the media. People accused the President of FIFA of being "tone deaf" and mocked him.

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