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– Qatar should never have won the World Cup in the first round.
That is the clear message from the national team manager, Ståle Solbakken.
In his first big interview about the big talk in Norwegian football right now, the real threat of Norway boycotting the World Cup in Qatar, Solbakken opens up about the following:
- Why you think boycott is the wrong tool now.
- Who thinks that dialogue is too cowardly a tool.
- It gives the arrogance of UEFA and FIFA the slippery slope.
- And he admits that he could hardly have been the coach of the Norwegian national team if he thought a boycott was the right thing to do.
– When I took this job, I had formed a basic opinion that I think being away has less value. But then I did not have the same information as now, where I have really had a difficult round. I know that when I knock out the first squad of the national team on Friday, much of it will be on the subject of Qatar. So I can’t sit there and play a play if I don’t believe humanity can come together despite the worst, I was about to say. But I still believe that there is hope that we, being inside, can influence more, says Ståle Solbakken.
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It does not hide the fact that the case is complex. Precisely for this reason, Solbakken, who will remove his first team from the national team on Friday, has spent a lot of time in the last week learning about the case.
– I think I have been in contact with God and with everyone. I’ve spoken to everything from those with a doctorate in labor immigration to digging journalists and peacekeepers. I have been in contact with the whole spectrum of what can give me information so that I can have a good feeling if we qualify, or if they allow us to qualify for the World Cup, says Solbakken.
His conclusion, based on what he has gathered from the information, is that as of today he believes that a boycott will be the wrong tool.
Believe that dialogue turns cowardly
– It is important for me to say that I think everyone agrees that Qatar is not close to fulfilling the human rights that everyone cherishes. They should never have won the championship in the first round, at least not without strong demands being made behind what it took to get the championship. And there is no doubt that UEFA and FIFA have had too many pigs in the forest, both before and after. But now it’s about how we can best help working immigrants, says Solbakken.
Precisely for this reason, he has become more certain that boycott, as he sees it, is not the right tool at the moment.
– It’s complicated, super difficult. And I may be a bit naïve, but I still have humanity’s little belief that if we are in there and use the right tools then we can get things going in the right direction. I think it can work better, says Solbakken.
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The Norwegian Football Association has long known that it believes a dialogue with Qatar has been the right tool. Supporters, for their part, have lost patience, especially after a Guardian report concluded that 6,500 guest workers lost their lives after Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010.
– I don’t think there should be dialogue or boycott. I find the word dialogue very vague and very cowardly. There must be pressure. There must be direct actions and measures must be implemented to improve things. I have full respect for those who believe that a boycott is now the only solution, but at the same time I believe that you should have respect for those who believe that you should support it and try to influence it, says Solbakken.
– What steps can you take now?
– I have my thoughts, but we will see later if we put it into practice. But how do I say it without being misunderstood … Things take time. So I think not only of labor immigration, but perhaps of changing a return that we take for granted. We still fight racism in our society. In friendly and safe Norway, we are still struggling with the debate over homosexuality, says Solbakken.
He does not mention concrete measures on the direct issue, but during the interview with TV 2, however, he outlines several concrete possibilities of influence:
- – I think we are entering 20 critical months in which we can put extreme focus on conditions in Qatar. It might hurt now, but it can make people feel better in the long run, Solbakken says.
- – A requirement that I think can be good is, for example, to open up so that journalists travel freely in Qatar and ask, dig and create their own conditions to think. Of course, it is very late, but it is an opening that I think many have seen as a great step forward, says Solbakken.
- – I also believe that we as a national team can create actions. We can invent things for the world to see. Sport can send signals, as the Black Lives Matter campaign shows, among other things, says Solbakken.
– What is the best for the workers?
The point of the director of the national team now is that one must look first and foremost at what currently benefits foreign workers in Qatar.
– Terje Svendsen has said that a Norwegian boycott will be met with a shrug. what do you think about it?
– If you quote it correctly, I think it is certainly not correct. Some will probably argue that others are to be expected to do the same. But look how everyone agrees that the World Cup will be played, for example, in England. What is happening to the workers in Qatar? Does it solve something for you? They get a better life. Yes, maybe punishing Qatar can make them think, but on the other hand, it could be a kind of war of positions that strengthens the Iron Curtain. These problems show the complexity of the whole thing, says Solbakken.
Regardless of the boycott or not: The director of the national team is convinced that the mere fact that the boycott has become a problem gives Qatar additional pressure to look after the workers to a greater extent.
– Has it been the case that if you don’t support a boycott, then you support FIFA and the mimes?
– There are probably those who think so, but I don’t have many good words to say about FIFA now or from a historical perspective. This also applies to UEFA. They must open up to a much greater degree, they must open up their entire system and become even more democratic, says Solbakken.
He is not very impressed with the football associations:
– There is no escaping the fact that it has been dark, and for several years both FIFA and UEFA have behaved with arrogance and lack of understanding of democracy and constructive solutions that people can accept and understand. There has been a kind of crushing on the part of the followers. That frustration has built up over time. Qatar is, in a way, the top, I think, says Solbakken.
– He could hardly have trained Norway if he was in favor of a boycott
He emphasizes over and over that he fully understands that many believe that a boycott is the only means.
In fact, he himself was involved in what is reminiscent of a boycott less than a year ago. In 2019, when Solbakken was coach of FCK, the club decided that they should no longer travel to Dubai due to the country’s relationship with human rights.
– What we did then, was precisely make a kind of celebration. You could say that it is a double standard, but one of the times we were there we spoke with a prince, among other things. It is very possible that we were blown away, but at least we were scolded. Then, in hindsight, we decided that we would not go there again. So one may wonder where should the border go? There is nothing to indicate that the limit has not been reached for a long time, but again: which instruments are the best in the future, says Solbakken.
He feels that he himself started his research on the Qatar World Cup with an open mind. This despite the fact that he admits that he could hardly have led the Norwegian long team if it had been categorically negative for a World Cup in Qatar.
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– Probably couldn’t. Probably not. I could have qualified, but I would have had a hard time with that, says Solbakken.
– What happened then?
– I had to tell the employer then that I don’t think we should go there. And then it may have resolved itself.
– Can you continue as national coach if Norway says no to the World Cup in Qatar on Sunday?
– I haven’t wasted a calorie on that. I have spent all my time trying to solve this problem so I can vouch for what I have told you now. And then I worked hard to make an honest and fair selection that makes all the players feel confident that they have been seen in the run-up to the national team selection on Friday, says Solbakken.
According to the coach of the national team, there are no players who have indicated so far that they do not want to join. But he is open to that happening.
– Are you surprised that the debate has gotten so big?
– I am not surprised, but it has caught my attention that I, as the top manager, should have done my research to have my body, my head and my arguments in a corner. I can’t sit here in an interview with you, where you push me from corner to corner and ask me all the tough questions, without having a good feeling in my stomach, says Solbakken.
Already on Sunday, the fate of Norway in the World Cup can be decided. Then the matter will probably be raised in the Football Parliament.
– What is your encouragement for the clubs that go there?
– Vote according to your instincts and on what you think is correct inside. And if you are not convinced now, you will always have the opportunity to do something extraordinary. But the most important thing is that everyone votes and does what they think is right, says Ståle Solbakken.
Ståle Solbakken himself notes that he is happy after all that the debate has broken out. Now he hopes that the climate for discussion in the future will be good.
– I believe that no one is a better or a worse person because either you believe in a boycott or because you think we should support it. Just because I think the boycott is wrong doesn’t make me a better or a worse person. I still have the same flaws and shortcomings. But the most important thing for me has been to be able to form an honest and sincere opinion about my position in the discussion, says Solbakken.
