Qatar 2022 is about money: van Gaal

AMSTERDAM • Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal believes it is ridiculous that this year's World Cup will be played in Qatar, accusing Fifa of taking the tournament to the Middle East emirate for money and commercial reasons.

The 70-year-old Dutchman said the world football governing body's reasons for awarding the Finals to Qatar, where his side will be competing at the Nov 21 to Dec 18 global showpiece, were spurious.

"We will be playing in a country where Fifa say we are going to help develop football. That is b***s***," he said on Monday ahead of friendlies against Denmark on Saturday and Germany next Tuesday.

It remains to be seen if he will be on the touchline for the two games after he tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday and will be in isolation "for the next few days".

"The tournament in Qatar is about money and commercial interest. That is what matters to Fifa," van Gaal added.

He is part of a commission within the Royal Dutch Football Association that meets monthly to evaluate the situation in Qatar regarding human rights and treatment of migrant workers. Just last month, The Guardian reported that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who were employed on the 2022 World Cup infrastructure projects have died in Qatar.

There were 37 deaths among workers directly linked to construction of World Cup stadiums, of which 34 are classified as "non-work related" by the organisers.

Last year, Dutch players, along with those of Germany and Norway, wore shirts before World Cup qualifiers voicing concerns over human rights in Qatar.

Qatar has said the reported deaths were within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population of the workers, and that the mortality rate had consistently declined since 2010 due to safety reforms.

REUTERS