Jurgen Klopp has launched a staunching attack on the 2022 FIFA World Cup which is due to be held in Qatar next month. This will be the first time in the history of the football’s most elite competition that it will be hosted by a middle-east nation, and subsequently in the middle of a footballing season. However, there’s more controversy surrounding the tournament than excitement.
Many players and coaches have raised their concerns over multiple aspects of this year’s edition. First and foremost, there are severe allegations that the host nation has violated the human rights of the labors who worked tirelessly to construct a massive seven new stadiums over a short period of time. Secondly, players participating have been enraged by the tournament being held in the middle of a season, which has further stacked an already hectic calendar. Jurgen Klopp has now joined the protest as he explained why he won’t be in Qatar to watch the Cup.
Jurgen Klopp questions the legitimacy of the Qatar World Cup
Jurgen Klopp was evidently unhappy with a number of issues circling the upcoming world tournament, as he explained them in a detailed manner. His Liverpool have already lost Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Arthur Melo to long term injuries due to the tight calendar, ruling them out of the World Cup. Talking to the reporters about the Qatar tournament, Klopp said:
“I will watch the games, but it is different. I watched an old documentary about the whole situation, about when it got announced that Russia and Qatar are the places for the next World Cups. I think it was the first time in history they announced two in one go. We all know how it happened and that we can still let it happen, with no legal thing afterwards.
“Later on we talk about human rights in terms of the people who have to work there in circumstances that are, let me say it nicely, difficult. We couldn’t play the World Cup there in the summer because of the temperature and there was not one stadium in Qatar, or maybe one. So you have to build stadiums. I don’t think anybody thought about that on that day, that somebody has to build them. It’s not like Aladdin with his wonder lamp and ‘Boom, there’s a new stadium’. The situation makes you angry. How can it not?
“I will watch it from a football point of view but I don’t like the fact that players now have to send a message. You are all journalists. You should have sent the message but you didn’t write the most critical articles about circumstances that were clear. There, we are guilty. But now we are telling players they have to wear an armband and if they don’t do it then they are not on their side. No, no, no; these are footballers, it is a tournament and the players must go there and play and do the best for their countries.
“Don’t put Gareth Southgate constantly in a situation where he has to talk about everything. He has an opinion but he’s not a politician, I’m not a politician, he’s a manager of England so let him do that. If you want to write about something else then do it, but by yourself without asking us so that it’s ‘Klopp said’ or ‘Southgate said’. As if that would change anything. You, more than I, let it happen 12 years ago.”
As evident from Jurgen Klopp’s lengthy rant, there’s certainly lot to this Qatar World Cup than just a tournament of 32 nations. Many players have voiced their support as well over the controversies around the month-long competition, but have admitted they will still have to represent their respective nations. Meanwhile, FIFA have released a statement over the allegations about human rights violations in Qatar, that the participating nations and fans should “focus on football” than the surrounding issues.