England captain says players hope to ‘shine light’ on issues in Qatar during World Cup
Harry Kane, captain of the England national football team, said players will use the World Cup in Qatar to highlight “important issues”.
The tournament has been marred with controversy since it was announced that it would take place in the country, where homosexuality is illegal and the LGBTQ+ community is subjected to discriminatory laws.
Amnesty International also released a 48-page report which concluded that certain harmful practices still take place in Qatar, such as withholding migrant workers’ pay and charging them money to move jobs – something the government there has denied.
Kane told reporters that he has discussed these matters with the England team, who will this week compete in friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. “We’ve never shied away from important issues, and we’ve always had our opinions and tried to show unity in anything we’ve done,” he explained. “That’s what will happen now over this camp and the next camp to try to help in any way we can.” The 28-year-old stated that he will try to unify other national team captains to take a joint stance and use the World Cup to highlight these things.
