Paris joins big screen boycott of World Cup games from Qatar
Pep Guardiola joined the growing list of football clubs boycotting the World Cup. He has announced he won’t attend the U.S.’s Opening match at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Aug. 5.
Guardiola was not alone. He joins three European giants – Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid – in boycotting the World Cup. Bayern Munich’s manager, Pep Guardiola, has decided to skip the opening match.
Guardiola said he couldn’t stand by and watch Qatar, which is hosting the World Cup in 2022, getting on a plane in order to participate.
So, what’s the point?
In a statement, the English Premier League said the decision to boycott the opening match at Los Angeles was about the rights of players, fans, and workers.
“It also reflects the increasing pressure on the EPL to boycott World Cup matches by many players and to support our international players without whose support there would be no chance of our clubs playing in the Uefa European Championships,” the statement read, according to the BBC.
As for the LA match, it’s not the first time an English club has backed the international boycott of the World Cup, according to the BBC: Manchester City, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal have previously announced they would not go to their respective World Cup stadiums.
In response to the latest development, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “I am saddened that today’s decision by some clubs to no-show for their opening match at the U.S. Open should have been anything else, but I have no choice but to reiterate my absolute commitment to this competition and to all those who love football and the World Cup.”
This boycott of the opening game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has nothing to do with the Qatar bid for hosting the 2030 World Cup. It’s only a response to the Qatar bid because Qatar’s World Cup will be in 2022.
This is the only issue the international players and supporters of soccer care about, because Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup was accepted in December 2017. If they don’t go to the opening match at the Coliseum, it means no World Cup in Qatar will happen and it is the reason they have taken the initiative.
