“It will be a political World Cup”
Gosens does not want to simply accept Qatar
02/07/2022, 6:45 p.m
National player Robins Gosens is at a fork in the road at the beginning of 2022. Should he accept Newcastle’s offer, thereby abandoning his ambitions as a footballer? The 27-year-old has a clear answer to that. Also on the question of how footballers should deal with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Robin Gosens is no ordinary footballer. The German national player has never played in the Bundesliga and was once felt to be too weak during a trial session at Borussia Dortmund. Since he played in the youth of VfL Rhede and failed. When the training was over, the youth coordinator told him that he would be contacted. Also in football a code for failure.
No interest from Dortmund and more by chance professional. His story has often been told. Short form: Gosens lives the life of a teenager out there on the fringes of the republic. On Saturday he goes out, on Sunday he plays football and then lies down for a lap to catch up on sleep. On one of these Sundays, a scout from the Dutch first division club Vitesse Arnhem discovered him. Although he had come for another player, he fell in love with Gosens, who actually dreamed of a career as a police officer at a gas station job with an hourly wage of 8.50 euros.
The future policeman became a top-flight player in the Netherlands in Arnhem and finally a national team player after his transfer to Atalanta Bergamo in Italy’s Serie A – coveted by clubs in Italy, Germany and England, where the nouveau riche Magpies from Newcastle tried to find the left-back. But in the end he decided on Inter Milan, where he could follow in the footsteps of the great German world champions of 1990 – Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann and Andreas Brehme once played in the legendary Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.
No interest in Newcastle
It is worth considering this short life sketch when you browse through the statements of the professional. The national player, who is still injured, gave the “Kicker” a remarkable interview in which he also discussed the offer from England. Newcastle United famously came into a lot of money at the end of 2021. Not good money, sheikh money from Saudi Arabia, which has been trying to polish its reputation on the international stage since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. Soccer is a good idea. This promises soft power and social capital and so the state and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman invested in Newcastle United. They haven’t played much more successfully since then, but are still considered the richest club in the world.
Gosens received an offer from there. One he almost couldn’t refuse. “I’ve thought about it,” said the national player: “But I never really considered a change. If I have to decide something, I make a list of pros and cons and then see what predominates.” The money spoke for Newcastle and “too many points”, explained the 27-year-old: “I would have jeopardized my sporting goals.”
Career – and a little bit of morale – over money. “I could probably have secured a few more generations of my family with this money,” said Gosens, adding that he would have had to betray his principles to do so. “I find this gigantism, the main thing more, the main thing money, worrying. And I’m still a hopeless football romantic. I just don’t want to believe that we can’t stop this development after all. That repels me.” Although he “doesn’t exactly play for a training wage” at Inter Milan, as Gosens admitted.
No Qatar boycott, but…
Currently still out of action due to a long-term tendon injury, Gosens should then go to Qatar with the national team for the World Cup in November 2022. Another desert state that is sneaking into his life plans and that you can hardly avoid in world football. The oil money has burned itself too deep into football, and the clubs and associations depend too much on drips in these countries.
The efforts of associations and clubs to differentiate themselves from Qatar mostly seem helpless. If they even exist. The turbulence surrounding the sponsorship contract between the German record champions Bayern Munich and Qatar Airways is still fresh in our memories. The association did everything it could to avoid having to talk about this connection at the AGM last November. He didn’t really want to succeed.
Positioning is also required of the players. They are said to boycott the World Cup. Financially secure actually a legitimate idea. But football is also more for the players. You are in a dilemma. “I’m not going through life blindly and I’m very well aware of what happened in this country to build a few stadiums,” said Gosens, before explaining the “conflict”: The childhood dream of the World Cup on the one hand and the morals on the other hand.
“Right now is this tournament in Qatar, and you can’t really look forward to it because so many other issues play a role that affect me. I find it really bitter that you can’t look forward to a World Cup with anticipation,” said he and instead of boycotting the World Cup suggested using the tournament for something else.
“We know that the whole world is watching and that it will be a political World Cup anyway. Why don’t we use this platform to draw attention to the grievances? Sure, you can’t even go there and set an example. But you can too use this one month to send messages,” said Gosens, without knowing exactly what that might look like. But in one point the national player is already further than many others, such as IOC President Thomas Bach. Unlike him, Gosens recognizes that, in the eyes of the world public, politics are always at stake, even at major sporting events. One can hardly expect more.