Brigitte Bardot Urges FIFA to Disqualify Morocco Over Alleged Stray Dog Culling

In an open letter addressed on Tuesday to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the French actress denounces the latter’s silence in the face of the alleged mass slaughter of stray dogs in Morocco. According to her, the kingdom would be working to get rid of these animals estimated at three million and which constitute a threat to the safety of the many visitors who will flock during the 2030 World Cup, jointly organized with Spain and Portugal.

"I ask you to disqualify Morocco as host of the Football World Cup, until the cessation of the killings is truly observed and made official," Brigitte Bardot wrote in her letter, accusing the FIFA president of being an accomplice to this alleged massacre. "You cannot be an accomplice to so much suffering and remain without condemning these abominable practices. Turning a deaf ear to all the denunciations and complaints addressed to you for months casts real doubt on the values and integrity of FIFA."

For its part, Morocco assures that these accusations are unfounded and that these practices have not been in use on its territory since the end of last year. An argument rejected by the president of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, indicating that "testimonies continue to flow into my Foundation: animals poisoned with strychnine, killed by bullets or left to die in a pool of blood, chased and grabbed with archaic pliers [...] then taken to depots where an atrocious death awaits them."