US coach Gregg Berhalter doubts World Cup boycott will work
US coach Gregg Berhalter said when it came to protesting the human rights record of Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, he preferred to participate and “raise awareness” rather than boycott.
Last March, the men’s national teams of the Netherlands, Norway and Germany all wore jerseys to protest the treatment of workers in Qatar. Work-related incidents and fatalities have been common since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010, according to reports.
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Prior to their World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar, Norway wore jerseys marked “Human rights on and off the pitch” and there were reports of boycotting the competition. The next day, Germany wore shirts marked “Human Rights”. The Netherlands then followed suit, wearing shirts that read: ‘Football supports change’.
Norway has since said it will not boycott the competition.
Ahead of Sunday’s Gold Cup group stage final against Canada, Berhalter was asked if the United States would take a similar stance.
“There are protests like Norway, and that’s one way to do it,” he told reporters on a Zoom call. “But I also think we need to raise awareness of the situation, and I think the boycott of the World Cup may not do so much good. But participating and raising awareness could potentially do [that]. So our job is to educate the players, educate the staff on what exactly is going on there and come up with our own message on how we want to make changes. “
The US men’s team has previously worn shirts promoting racial equality in conjunction with the phrase “Be The Change”.
In terms of play, Berhalter said he was “happy” for the group of Canadian players who have progressed during this cycle. Canada reached the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying for the first time since 1998, and a draw or win in Sunday’s game would put them first in Group B at the expense of Team USA .
“I’m happy for the squad, for the players,” he said. “These are a lot of players that we know, I have a lot of respect for these guys. It’s nice to see them grow over the last five years, and they’ve come to this point and I think that’s a good team.
“I think they made a few adjustments in the roster that really play on their strengths and then you look at the development of their pool of players, like ours, they are young players and they have really taken that next step and have arrived at the international level. “
Earlier today, defenseman Reggie Cannon said he was “100% back” from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the United States’ first two games.