MADRID, 20 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United States coach, Gregg Berhalter, has assured that his team is not in Qatar to focus on extra-sports matters, and although he believes that FIFA president Gianni Infantino has a “right to express himself” as he did on Saturday, they “does not” represent “your views”.
“He is the president of FIFA and he expresses his opinions as he sees fit. We are here to play soccer, we are here to represent the United States and we do not necessarily represent the views of Infantino. This is how it works: he has the right to express that and we we have the right to our opinions,” he declared at the press conference prior to the game against Wales.
Infantino gave a press conference lasting more than an hour on Saturday in which he described Western countries as “hypocrites” for criticizing Qatar’s breach of human rights. “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker,” he said in his controversial speech.
On the other hand, Berhalter acknowledged that he has spoken with his footballers about what is happening in the Asian country. “We started educating the players about 18 months ago about what is happening in Qatar, from my perspective there have been some positive things and there is still work to do. This World Cup can help raise awareness, and he thinks we should try to call attention to some of the problems here,” he said.