Germany’s 2014 World Cup winning captain Philipp Lahm on Sunday said Qatar should never have been allowed to host the World Cup and vowed to stay away from the tournament.
“Awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake,” Lahm wrote in a column for Die Zeit newspaper. “It doesn’t belong there.”
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Qatar has come under sustained fire over its human rights record ahead of the World Cup, including its treatment of foreign workers and its stance on women’s and LGBTQ rights.
Last week, Qatari World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman sparked a storm of criticism by calling homosexuality a “damage in the mind” in a German TV interview.
Fans in stadiums across Germany have called for boycotts of the tournament. Lahm, 39, who is tournament director of the Euro 2024 finals which will be hosted by Germany, said he would not be travelling to Qatar but would watch the matches on TV.
“Homosexuals are still criminalised, women do not have the same rights as men, freedom of the press and freedom of expression are restricted,” he said.
He also described conditions for migrants workers as “devastating”.
“This atmosphere does not interest me as a football fan,” he said. Lahm said FIFA had “damaged football” by awarding the tournament to Qatar. “Football is not a popular sport in Qatar, and there is practically no chance for girls to play football,” he said.
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Poland international goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski is out of the World Cup after suffering an ankle injury in Spezia’s Serie A win at Verona, coach Luca Gotti said on Sunday.
Dragowski had been selected in Poland’s squad for the Qatar tournament but he had to be stretchered from the Stadio Bentegodi field in tears three minutes before halftime after trying to tackle Kevin Lasagna.
“We don’t have any confirmed news yet, the tests are ongoing and it’s certainly not a light injury,” Gotti told DAZN after his team’s 2-1 win.
“The first thing to say is that he won’t be able to play in the World Cup, he was supposed to be leaving to join his national team tomorrow.”
Dragowski has two caps for his country and would have been behind fellow Italy-based keepers Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Skorupski in the pecking order for Poland.
Spezia were behind to Simone Verdi’s strike when Dragowski was substituted but M’bala Nzola’s first goals away from home this season moved his team six clear of the relegation zone and condemned Verona to their 10th straight defeat.
Socceroo Ajdin Hrustic was an unused substitute for Verona.
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