Jurgen Klopp on Qatar protests.
Jurgen Klopp feels that the players should not be expected to protest when the World Cup begins in Qatar this month.
The tournament is being overshadowed by matters surrounding the host country, such as the treatment of migrant workers and laws prohibiting LGBTQ+ relationships.
Australia speak out against Qatar.
Last week, the Australian squad spoke out against these issues, while Denmark have confirmed that they will slimming down the travel arrangements for players’ families.
Qatar were awarded this World Cup all the way back in 2010, when a large number of the players taking part were still young children.
This is one of the reasons why Klopp feels that the onus shouldn’t be on players to make a stand, as he explained to Sky News, following a ceremony where the Liverpool manager was awarded the Freedom of the City.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told Sky News football players should not be expected to protest at the Qatar World Cup.
More here on why the 2022 tournament is so controversial: https://t.co/uKOsEIScCR pic.twitter.com/r7TxKmepDl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 2, 2022
Jurgen Klopp: “Don’t criticise the players.”
“It’s not fair to give the responsibility to the players,” he said. “It’s more than 10 years ago when other people decided and we all accepted the decision.
“It’s not about this generation’s players saying ‘we don’t go,’ these are the players, the tournament is in Qatar, the players go there and play the game.
“The decision was made by other people and if you want to criticise anybody then criticise the people who made the decision, not the sport, not the competition and for sure not the players.”
We've got some exciting clashes ahead in Group H 💥
Who'll progress into the knockouts? pic.twitter.com/drFqPaMNbP
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 2, 2022
One Love.
England are among the countries whose captains will be wearing ‘One Love’ armbands at the World Cup, in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
While Klopp feels this is a positive gesture, he adds that the likes of Harry Kane shouldn’t be pressured into it.
“That’s fine but what I don’t like about it is that we expect them to do something,” he said. “They go there to play football. The players have to play the games, the want to play the games and all the rest is for other people.”
The World Cup in Qatar gets underway on Sunday November 20th, when the hosts come up against Ecuador.
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