World Cup 2022: Ex-England player Nigel Clough says Qatar 'inappropriate' hosts
- Published
Nigel Clough is manager of League Two side Mansfield Town
Qatar is an "inappropriate" Word Cup host country and the tournament "won't feel the same" because of it, says former England forward Nigel Clough.
Starting on Sunday, 20 November, it is the first event in the competition's 92-year history not to take place in the northern hemisphere summer months.
Clough says human rights issues around the tournament and its host nation have also diminished the World Cup.
"I certainly don't agree with the venue and the timing," Clough said.
"I know it has to be played at this time because of the climate, but that all fits in with it being inappropriate as well as all the other moral issues that have arisen."
The Gulf state has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and treatment of migrant workers.
Amnesty International says that since 2010, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, external have faced human rights abuses while employed to build the wider infrastructure necessary to host the tournament.
In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 workers had died in Qatar since its World Cup bid was successful, using data supplied by embassies in Qatar.
However, the Qatar government said the total was misleading.
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter recently said awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a "mistake".
Former Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Manchester City forward Clough won 14 England caps from 1989 to 1993
Clough, who manages Mansfield Town in League Two, said the decision to award the tournament to a country unable to host it during its traditional timeslot has robbed the event of the usual excitement.
Had the competition been held in June and July, as is usual, matches would have been played in temperatures exceeding 40C, and possibly reaching 50C.
"I think the World Cup should be like the FA Cup, and reserved for a special time in the summer when all the football leagues are having a break," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.
"You associate it with a summer competition. Even in England, people are watching it outside on screens and in pubs and here we are in the depths of winter.
"It won't feel the same, because you don't associate it with that."
Clough, who won 14 England caps but never played at a major tournament, hopes his Mansfield side see some benefits from the Premier League and Championship being put on hold during the World Cup.
"I hope people get out to see their League One, League Two or non-league team, watch live football that way, if they are are missing the Premier League and Championship," he added.
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