Bruno Fernandes “not happy” about Qatar World Cup
The midfielder commented on the “strange” tournament after his side’s 1-2 win against Fulham on Sunday night.
It fell to Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes to take to the microphone after Manchester United’s 1-2 win against Fulham. The Danish midfielder had put his side ahead with his first goal for the club before ex-Manchester United pest Dan James equalised. Things were looking rosy for Fulham until winger Alejandro Garnacho came on to steal the headlines and the three points for his side in the dying seconds of the game.
Of course, the journalist opened with a question about the youngster, who is the man on everyone’s lips at the moment, and Bruno was quick to praise. The conversation continued on with nothing special to report before a comment about the World Cup raised Bruno’s eyebrow, Carlo Ancelotti style.
“It’s not exactly the time we want to be playing in the World Cup”, the midfielder quipped, “obviously i think for everyone it’s not the best time: kids will be at school, people will be working, the timings will not be the best for the people to watch the games.”
He continued, unprompted by either his teammate or the journalist asking the questions. Bruno clearly had something on his mind: “We know the surroundings of the world cup, what has been [reported] in the past few weeks, the past few months of the people that have died in the construction of the stadiums. We are not happy [about] that, at all. We want football to be for everyone.”
The Guardian reported that over 6,500 migrant deaths had occurred in Qatar directly related to the World Cup although the article claims that the number is significantly higher. That article is now over a year old.
The Manchester United number 8, who will come up against Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea, also hinted at his disagreement with the laws regarding equality in Qatar, where it is illegal to be gay. Bruno said “everyone has to be included and involved in the World Cup because [it] is, like I say, the world - it’s for everyone.”
I think this kind of things shouldn’t happen at any time but a World Cup is a party for fans, players and something that is a joy to watch should be done in a better way” he concluded.
In response to the impassioned speech from the Portuguese midfielder, teammate Eriksen echoed his thoughts: “I totally agree with Bruno, a lot has been written, how the World Cup has happened and why it is in Qatar. It hasn’t gone the right way. We try to say what we can but the change has to come from somewhere else.”