Ronald de Boer was officially presented as ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday. The former international of the Dutch was already an ambassador of the World Cup bid of the oil state in the past and will promote the tournament for the next year and a half. In an interview with de Volkskrant De Boer says that the image of the World Cup in Qatar is too one-sided. He says he wants to enter into ‘dialogue’, but is heavily criticized after his statements.
De Boer ended his active career in Qatar: he played for Al-Rayyan in the 2004/05 season and then played for Al-Shamal for three years. In 2010 De Boer started his coaching career with a position as assistant national coach at Qatar Under-23. He admits to being paid for his ambassadorship, but does not want to mention amounts. “I’ve thought carefully, because I realize I’m going to get a lot of shit on me,” he says. “But I lived there for seven years, and certainly not, as Johan Derksen calls out, only seen wealth.”
“I see positive social changes, and the World Cup will only accelerate them. How nice is it if we can later say: we did that well, that we made the world a bit more beautiful through football?” “, said the brother of national coach Frank de Boer. In an article in The Guardian It recently emerged that 6,500 migrant workers would have died during construction work in Qatar in preparation for the World Cup. The KNVB stated in a statement that it had read those figures ‘with horror’, but added that it did not support a World Cup boycott.
hahahaha Ronald de Boer becomes ambassador of the World Cup in Qatar. that World Cup cost so far 6500+ deaths, many people who were abused as slaves and a range of human rights violations, but according to Ronald the picture is one-sided and it will be BETTER because of the World Cup. ?? pic.twitter.com/q4qtE1YH2N
– Tim Hofman (@debroervanroos) June 1, 2021
Presenter Tim Hofman, known for the online program, responds via social media #ANGRY, cynical of De Boer’s ambassadorship. “Hahahaha, Ronald de Boer will be ambassador of the World Cup in Qatar,” he writes on Twitter. “That World Cup took so far 6500+ dead, many people who were abused as slaves and a range of human rights violations, but according to Ronald the image is one-sided and it will be BETTER because of the World Cup. “On Instagram Stories, the presenter speaks of ‘clowning’. Hofman tried for his program already asked main sponsors like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser and adidas why they sponsor the World Cup, but got no response.
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