The players of the Australian national football team announced on Monday that they are putting aside human rights issues in Qatar to better focus on their first World Cup match against defending champions France. The “Socceroos” posted a video on social media last month in which about 15 players spoke out against rights violations in Qatar, while acknowledging that progress had been made.
Asked at a press conference about the legacy the World Cup could leave in the small Gulf gas state, Australian striker Mitchell Duke said the team’s players are now focused on the tournament. “To be honest, I think we have synchronized things well with what has been said beforeexplained Duke, who is one of 16 players in the video shot at the team’s base camp in Doha. “We did it on purpose before we all got to camp because our main priority now is just to focus on the football side of things.»
“We just take care of the football”
«What we said in that video has been said, what needed to be heard has been heard, and now quite frankly we just deal with football, we don’t really talk about any of that anymore” insisted on specifying the 31-year-old player who plays in Japan. “We have some work to do here during the World Cup to represent Australia and so that is our main priority now.»
In preparation for the tournament, which begins on November 20, Qatar has faced widespread criticism over its treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ+ community. World Cup organizers have hit back by insisting that “no country was perfect“. In their first match in Qatar, Australia will face the French team of Didier Deschamps, reigning world champions.
