Vertonghen says players being "controlled" at World Cup and afraid to speak out
www.mirror.co.uk
FIFA have been heavily criticised for their handling of the OneLove armbands at the Qatar World Cup and Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen is frustrated by the situation

"We are being controlled. I don’t like making political statements. We are here to play football, and if we can’t even do that because we are making a statement and just saying normal things, like ‘no to discrimination’ or ‘no to racism’, and you cannot say that, then hey, then what?”

  • jokeyrhyme@lemmy.ml
    41·
    2 years ago

    I think the point being made here is not against you, but against the privilege that professional athletes in Western countries enjoy

    It is normal for them to exist in a space where they can say very basic things about human rights

    And yet, it is normal for others (e.g. citizens of Qatar, but also billions of other humans on earth) to exist in spaces where human rights are not allowed to be discussed

    • imgprojts@lemmy.ml
      3·
      2 years ago

      So basically the players are speaking for those who previously did not have a voice…but we also already knew they were under an oppressive government.

      Oppressive governments need to be removed from the world. Hopefully that statement at least is something others can agree on with me. Is there anyone out there who wants to be told what to do?

    • CountryBreakfast@lemmygrad.ml
      2·
      2 years ago

      Yes I think you are onto something here. I think their concerns are primarily that their ability to speak and be heard is being compromised, which seems slightly different than explicit concern for women, LGBT persons etc that are clearly oppressed, especially in Qatar.

      I’d like to see more from these wealthy jocks than complaints about being controlled. They have power that many don’t have and if they have convictions about this that go beyond what affects them and their brand then they may be able to do some good.

      • ailiphiliaOP
        1·
        2 years ago

        I’d like to see more from these wealthy jocks than complaints about being controlled.

        Yes, our comments have crossed. See mine above.

    • ailiphiliaOP
      2·
      2 years ago

      I didn’t understand it as against me, I just didn’t understand :-). All fine. The super rich footballer appears to feel understandably uneasy given that he is “controlled” as he says. The point is that he and his peers could say ‘no’ to this exactly because they are “super rich”, but they literally play to their sponsors in an industry that seems to have lost any human dignity.

      Unfortunately his sentiment could be a foretaste of a society which we may be heading into. How will ( or already do?) citizens feel in a world of ubiquitous CCTVs and client-side scanning technologies where everything you do and say is constantly monitored and logged? What does this mean for the freedom of opinion and other human rights we in the so-called “western world” are so proud of?