Arsenal and England's Lotte Wubben-Moy says she 'won't be watching' World Cup due to Qatar's difference in 'values'
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Updated 08/11/2022 at 09:51 GMT
England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy has admitted to taking the "tough" decision not to watch the World Cup. Wubben-Moy, who has fought a number of campaigns around equality, said the Lionesses' strong values "aren’t reflected, in the way that we see it, in Qatar". Fellow Lioness Beth Mead expressed similar views last week, declaring that it's "not something I will be backing or promoting".
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Arsenal and England centre-back Lotte Wubben-Moy has revealed she will not be watching the upcoming World Cup, as a result of the Lionesses "strong values not being reflected in Qatar".
Qatar's stance towards issues such as human rights and women's role in society has been questioned in the build-up to the tournament, and Wubben-Moy - a strong advocate for equality - admitted she feels unable to watch England in action due to the situation.
FIFA released a letter last week in which they asked that football not be "dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists", but Wubben-Moy, conversely, believes the sport is a "very strong vehicle for change".
Wubben-Moy, who is with the Lionesses ahead of their friendly matches with Japan and Norway in Spain over the coming week, said: “It’s tough. As an England team we all have strong values and a lot of those values aren’t reflected, in the way that we see it, in Qatar.
"It’s a tough conversation to have and there’s a lot of dialogue around it.
“I will be supporting the men’s team, but I won’t be watching. It’s hard to talk about but at the end of the day, we’re one team here at England and we know that they have an opportunity to play at a World Cup and it’s hard to look beyond that really.
“Sport is a very strong vehicle for change. To underestimate that would be naive. I’ve seen a lot of the players have strong viewpoints and I salute them, and I wish them the best in looking to express that throughout this World Cup.
“A lot of the players might not ever play in a World Cup again, so I can’t comment on them choosing to go because many people would take that same choice. But [if] they can use this opportunity to help bring about change, I think that’s important.”
Beth Mead is another England star to have spoken out about the issues, calling Qatar's ban on homosexuality "the complete opposite to what I believe and respect”.
“It [the World Cup] is not something I will be backing or promoting at all," she told BBC Radio 4 last week.
“It’s disappointing in the sense that there’s no respect on a lot of levels, even though it’s a game of football.”
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