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Gareth Southgate has insisted England would not achieve anything by boycotting this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Question marks have been raised ever since the Gulf sate was awarded the finals in 2010, given alleged human rights violations and ill-treatment of migrant workers.
England players and staff held discussions to see how they could find ways to try and help deliver change ahead of the tournament in eight months time.
But boycotting the tournament is certainly not an option Southgate revealed.
“I don’t really know what that achieves,” he said. “It would be a big story, but the tournament would go ahead.
“The fact, unfortunately, is the biggest issue, which is non-religious and non-cultural, is what happened with the building of the stadiums and there is nothing we can do about that either, sadly.
“We have known for eight years that this is going to be in Qatar. Is the stance against Qatar as a country? We are intertwined, as we are seeing with Russia, with all sorts of investment in this country.
“This is complicated. The issues themselves aren’t complicated; all the repercussions of diplomatic relations and dealing with other countries and other organisations are extremely complicated.”
Southgate insisted himself and his playing staff will receive criticism no matter what steps they take.
“The players are thinking through how they best respond and try to affect the things we might be able to affect,” he added.
“There are things that are cultural and religious that are going to be difficult to affect and change, but there is an opportunity to use our platform in a positive way, without a doubt.
“There is a long period to do that, so I don’t think we should rush into that. I don’t think the players feel they could rush something and come to the wrong conclusion or idea.
“Whatever we do we are going to be criticised, but we are going to try and do our best. There are going to be things ongoing throughout the year.
“The players have stepped up to the plate enormously on various issues. We’ve got to use our voice in the right way and at the right time.”
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