World Cup in football, World Cup in Qatar
Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Wales, England, Switzerland and the Netherlands were the seven countries that together planned to use the One Love bracelet before Fifa said no as before the World Cup started. Only the latter three advanced to the playoffs.
The former Arsenal manager has spoken out about the nations’ demonstrations.
– When you play in the WC, you know that you cannot lose the first game. The countries that did, and progressed from the group stage, were the nations with experience, who have done well in previous championships, and the countries that were mentally prepared and focused on the tournament and not political demonstrations.
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– He talks nonsense
Having previously worked as a coach and expert commentator, Wenger himself became part of Fifa in 2019 when he stepped into the role of head of global football development.
Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst reacts to changes in the Frenchman’s coverage of Fifa since joining the organisation.
– Sad to see what Wenger has been since he entered into an alliance with Fifa. This is more user-friendly than his campaign for a world championship every other year, writes Luckhurst on his Twitter account.
Several Norwegian football experts are also critical of the 73-year-old’s statement, including Lars Tjernås.
– Always had enormous respect for Wenger. Here I mean he is simply talking nonsense. It is possible to find 100 professional reasons why someone has performed better than others. Then he should stick to it – not become a dissenting voice to those who have dared to show distance from the “shameful WC”, writes Tjernås on his Twitter account.
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Gets support from Denmark
Denmark was among the nations that smoked after the group stage. National team coach Kasper Hjulmand is certain in his case that extra-sport has its share of the blame.
– That is no excuse. But it would be strange to believe anything other than that it has had an impact on the whole thing. To some extent. I don’t know whether it meant anything on the pitch or not, said Hjulmand at a press conference after the WC exit.
He believes that the debate surrounding what the players should do after Fifa threatened to punish the nations that presented the captain’s armband made the players mentally exhausted.
– It is unreasonable. I think it is unfair to the players. To paint a picture that no matter what the hell they are doing in this context, they are doing something wrong. There has been enormous pressure on them to be activists. Whatever they did, it was a feeling of “what do we have to do to make it right?”.