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By Martin Graham | 15th Nov 2022
Manchester United star midfielder, Bruno Fernandes has revealed some of the reasons why players are not very happy about the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup will be held in the winter. Due to the extremely hot weather in Qatar during the summer, the World Cup had to be moved to November/December which meant that the domestic season will have a change in schedule, fixtures will be more congested and the season will have to pause before its halfway point.
Qatar has also come under scrutiny a lot of scrutiny for the lives lost during the construction of the Stadiums that will be used for the World Cup and Bruno Fernandes touched on these problems in his post match interview.
He told Sky Sports: “Of course it’s strange [the World Cup starting next week]. It’s not exactly the time we want to be playing in the World Cup
“Obviously I think for everyone, players and fans, it’s not the best time. Kids will be at school, people will be working and the timings will not be the best for people to watch the games.
“We know the surroundings of the World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums. We are not happy about that at all.
“We want football to be for everyone, everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World Cup is the world.
“It’s for everyone, it doesn’t matter who. These kind of things I think should not happen at any time. But for a World Cup it’s more than football, it’s a party for fans, players, something that’s a joy to watch, should be done in a better way.”
Bruno Fernandes captained his Manchester United team in a victory away from home to Fulham on Thursday evening. The winning goal was scored by Alejandro Garnacho in what was the last kick of the game. The Portuguese International will be expected to play a key role in Portugal’s World Cup bid.
Fernandes’ United teammate, Christian Eriksen also shared the same sentiments. The 30-year-old opened his account for Manchester United against Fulham on Sunday. He will be going to the World Cup to represent Denmark, a country that has been vocal regarding the issues surrounding a very controversial tournament.
“A lot has been written, there’s a lot of focus on how it’s happened and why it’s in Qatar. I don’t agree with how it’s happened but we’re footballers and we play football. Change has to come from somewhere else.”
The start of the World Cup is less than a week away and the players will have to quickly shift their focus to representing their countries in the biggest tournament in football. The opening match takes place on November 18th with hosts Qatar taking on Ecuador.