England defender Eric Dier described the “terrible situation” for migrant workers in Qatar as “disappointing” and said the issues surrounding the World Cup in the Gulf state had dampened the players’ excitement before the showpiece event.
Qatar has faced intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers, who with other foreigners comprise the bulk of the country’s population.
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The government of Qatar has said its labour system was still a work in progress but denied allegations in a 2021 Amnesty report that thousands of migrant workers in the country were being trapped and exploited.
“We have been here a very short time. A lot has happened already, a lot of things that are very disappointing… I am talking about obviously what has happened in the building of the stadiums,” Dier, 28, told reporters on Saturday.
“It’s a terrible situation. As players, we have no influence on these decisions. It’s a World Cup and it’s something I am extremely proud to be a part of. As a team, we are extremely happy to be here to represent our country to play football.
“We’re sitting here talking about it instead of talking about football. So it’s taken a lot of that [excitement] away for us. But we can’t hide from it, it would be wrong to ignore it.”
