Is criticism and World Cup euphoria okay?
Bierhoff finds himself in a Qatar quandary
03/28/2022, 3:35 p.m
The groups for the 2022 World Cup will be drawn in Qatar on Friday. The emirate on the Gulf is still in the headlines – as a potential supplier of gas, but also because of the ongoing human rights violations. DFB director Oliver Bierhoff is in a bind.
DFB director Oliver Bierhoff wants to continue the critical discourse on World Cup host Qatar and hopes for close cooperation with representatives from politics. “Perhaps German football and German politics can also work hand in hand on this important issue by using the attention of a soccer World Cup to further advance processes in Qatar,” said the DFB director responsible for the national teams in an interview the “Frankfurter Rundschau”.
For him and national coach Hansi Flick, the coming months will also be about developing a positive mood in the team for the tournament in late autumn, despite the justified criticism of the human rights conditions in the Gulf Emirate. “We have to be careful not to close our eyes to the important and necessary political debates, but at the same time to arouse an inner euphoria that comes from within the team,” said the 53-year-old.
Even before the early failure at the World Cup four years ago, there would have been too many distractions. “My experience is that the discussion of non-sporting topics can temporarily overshadow football. Before the 2018 World Cup, for example, it was incredibly difficult to arouse enthusiasm for the World Cup internally,” recalled Bierhoff.
Despite various trips to Qatar, he has not yet been able to get the same overview of the country as before the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. “In South Africa or Brazil it was possible to visit townships and favelas to find out directly how the people there live and how you can possibly help them within the scope of your own possibilities,” said Bierhoff.
Before the trip to the World Cup group draw this Friday in Doha, Bierhoff does not expect any major insights of this kind in the next World Cup host country. “In Qatar so far I’ve only seen beautiful stadiums, training grounds and hotels. I’m not optimistic that we’ll get any deeper insights.”