The analysts of Veronica Inside are disappointed by the unwillingness of the players and the national coach of the Dutch national team to speak out about the human rights violations in Qatar. In Friday evening’s broadcast, it is stated that F1 driver Lewis Hamilton appeared on Friday during free practice in Qatar with a helmet in rainbow colors to underline the equality of all people. The Englishman believes that athletes who are active in Qatar ‘are obliged to create awareness’, but the Dutch football players are not doing that yet.
After the the Dutch squad qualified for the World Cup on Tuesday evening, Louis van Gaal and Georginio Wijnaldum were asked what they thought about the political controversies surrounding the World Cup in Qatar. They both declined to comment substantive. “It is not up to the national coach and the players to talk about political matters,” said Van Gaal. “You have other gentlemen for that.” A few days earlier, however, the elector spoke about the corona measures in force in the Netherlands and insinuated a lack of leadership in Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Louis van Gaal cites the murder of Peter R. de Vries after question about the 2022 World Cup
After questions about Qatar, Louis van Gaal referred to the murder of Peter R. de Vries.
Valentijn Driessen thinks that Van Gaal should ‘open his mouth’ and Derksen points to the role that players can play. “If I were a player and I hear my coach say all this, I would say, ‘Listen, I’m your player and we can discuss football, but if I have a dissenting political opinion, I have the freedom to “You have nothing to say about that, Van Gaal.” Van Gaal doesn’t realize that, but he feels so great that he thinks he can say that they should all shut up about politics.” Derksen calls the players ‘powerless weaklings’.
Van Gaal stated on Tuesday that there is ‘everywhere’ going on. “In the Netherlands, Peter R. de Vries, a great friend of mine, was murdered. What can you say about that? I know it may be incomparable, but I also had a lot of trouble with that.” The ruling can count on little understanding from lawyer Bram Moszkowicz, who is present at the program. “The comparison that Van Gaal makes, from the country where human rights are being violated to the murder of Peter R. de Vries… I try to think clearly, but I cannot take that step. As if that means that in the Netherlands we also have to keep our mouths shut. must open the door, because people are being murdered in the Netherlands. Yes, we know that.”
Van Gaal compares the Netherlands and Portugal: ‘Rutte is the leader, isn’t it?’
Louis van Gaal insinuated a lack of leadership at Mark Rutte last week.
Moszkowicz suspects that Van Gaal only adapts to the strategy of the KNVB. The association does not want to communicate about the controversy surrounding Qatar through the players and technical staff. Derksen is not convinced by this, however. “Do you really think that Van Gaal cares about Mrs Van Leeuwen (director of professional football Marianne van Leeuwen, ed.)? They don’t dare to send him away at all. He can say something about Mark Rutte, but not about Qatar. That is of course unbelievable.”
More than 6,500 migrant workers have died building stadiums and other facilities for the World Cup in Qatar, it wrote the Guardian earlier this year. In March, the KNVB released its own position on the 2022 World Cup. The association emphasized that it is absolutely not in favor of a final tournament in the oil state, but at the same time indicated that a boycott of the World Cup is not an option. The KNVB does not think that the situation in Qatar will improve much if the Dutch national team stays at home in a year. Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Right Watch are not in favor of a boycott and the KNVB endorsed that view in its own statement.