England skipper Jordan Henderson said he was shocked to receive a report detailing human rights abuses committed in Qatar, host of the World Cup.
One of the most touched-on issues of the Qatar World Cup was the treatment of workers hired to build the infrastructure.
According to reports, the document was handed over by England manager Gareth Southgate and the federation’s executive director, Mark Bullingham.
“When we received the report it was quite shocking and disappointing. It’s really awful when you look at some of the problems that are currently happening there.” Henderson said.
“As a team, we are digesting this, coming up with ideas of what we want to do going forward. It’s an opportunity to maybe clarify the issues and use our platforms to make changes for the better.” he added.
Despite his obvious concerns about the human rights scene in Doha, Southgate is convinced that boycotting the first World Cup in the Middle East would not be the best option.
“I really don’t know what it achieves. It would be a great story, but the tournament would go on. There are some religious and cultural things that will be very difficult to change, but there is still an opportunity to use our voices and our platform in a positive way,” Southgate said.
“It is possible [a boycott], but this is not a decision that the players and I can make. I hear multiple versions of this, but my understanding is that the discussions the FA has had with organizations like Amnesty are that they feel there would be more changes if we go and these things are highlighted.” Southgate added.
Norway, meanwhile, has released a statement calling for a boycott of the 2022 World Cup, in relation to reports of ‘modern-day slavery’ and the ‘alarming number of deaths’.
