'I'm not a politician, it starts with FIFA': Van Dijk on Qatar hosting the World Cup

Virgil van Dijk broke his silence on the controversial World Cup host country, Qatar. He stressed the importance of the higher ups making the decisions in this situation and the players being left alone to play.

"It’s a very delicate matter," said the Liverpool defender. "You’re not happy with that and for me, we’re a few days out from the first game and I’m fully focused on the first game otherwise I can’t focus and get results.

"I think people higher up really should make a difference. Obviously when we’re there, we have eyes as well. We will see things and we will always as a group if we feel we can make a change, we will be open to that.

"But we shouldn’t be forced to do certain things which maybe you’re not comfortable with. We have to see it for ourselves first of all. We go there on Tuesday, get our first feeling and, like I say, we can always try and make an impact on everything that’s happening.

"But I’m a football player. I wanted to play World Cups when I was younger, that’s the feeling I’ve got right now that I’m going to play my first World Cup with the Netherlands and hopefully win many games.

"I’m human and you guys know exactly that I’m not shy about saying exactly what I think, that’s definitely the case. But I think the most-important message is that you shouldn’t be forced to do things you’re not comfortable with, you have to be fully behind them.

"We’ll see what happens, but the first thing is football. I’m not a politician. FIFA is definitely one of the responsible ones it starts with.”

Source: The Athletic