Southgate says England won't be muzzled by FIFA, but they're in Qatar to play football
November 11 - FIFA's call for World Cup squads to focus solely on football without reference to Qatar's human rights record and treatment of migrant workers is likely to be ignored, according to England coach Gareth Southgate.
The unprecedented attempt by FIFA's two most powerful officials - President Gianni and General Secretary Fatma Samoura - to muzzle players and officials when it comes to non-football matters was made then that World Cup organizers were increasingly worried about preparations for the tournament which lasts less than a week on Sunday.
But Southgate doesn't expect its players to refrain from talking about wider issues.
"I think it's highly unlikely," Southgate said at a press conference announcing his 26-man squad. "We've always talked about issues that we think should be addressed, especially ones that we think we can affect.
“Contrary to a sighting or two over the past few weeks, we have spoken in the same way that other nations have spoken about this tournament, the human rights challenges. We have been very clear about our point of view on this."
Nevertheless, Southgate said, it should be recognized that teams are there for one main reason without too many distractions.
"I think we would like to focus mainly on football. For every player, every coach and everyone who goes to a World Cup, it's a football carnival," he said.
"It's the thing you've worked for all your life and you don't want it to be diminished by everything that's going on around it right now. But we recognize that we're going to be in this situation, we have to l 'accept and deal with it.'
Many European World Cup teams have pledged their captains to wear One Love anti-discrimination armbands, which violates FIFA rules.
"When it comes to the LGBT community, we stand for inclusivity and we're very, very strong on that," Southgate said. "We think it's important for all of our supporters. We understand the challenges this tournament brings in there."
Contact the author of this story at moc.l1668292395labto1668292395ofdlr1668292395owedi1668292395sni@w1668292395ahsra1668292395w.wer1668292395dna1668292395
November 11 - FIFA's call for World Cup squads to focus solely on football without reference to Qatar's human rights record and treatment of migrant workers is likely to be ignored, according to England coach Gareth Southgate.
The unprecedented attempt by FIFA's two most powerful officials - President Gianni and General Secretary Fatma Samoura - to muzzle players and officials when it comes to non-football matters was made then that World Cup organizers were increasingly worried about preparations for the tournament which lasts less than a week on Sunday.
But Southgate doesn't expect its players to refrain from talking about wider issues.
"I think it's highly unlikely," Southgate said at a press conference announcing his 26-man squad. "We've always talked about issues that we think should be addressed, especially ones that we think we can affect.
“Contrary to a sighting or two over the past few weeks, we have spoken in the same way that other nations have spoken about this tournament, the human rights challenges. We have been very clear about our point of view on this."
Nevertheless, Southgate said, it should be recognized that teams are there for one main reason without too many distractions.
"I think we would like to focus mainly on football. For every player, every coach and everyone who goes to a World Cup, it's a football carnival," he said.
"It's the thing you've worked for all your life and you don't want it to be diminished by everything that's going on around it right now. But we recognize that we're going to be in this situation, we have to l 'accept and deal with it.'
Many European World Cup teams have pledged their captains to wear One Love anti-discrimination armbands, which violates FIFA rules.
"When it comes to the LGBT community, we stand for inclusivity and we're very, very strong on that," Southgate said. "We think it's important for all of our supporters. We understand the challenges this tournament brings in there."
Contact the author of this story at moc.l1668292395labto1668292395ofdlr1668292395owedi1668292395sni@w1668292395ahsra1668292395w.wer1668292395dna1668292395
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