Finalissima: player confusion and strange contradiction
With tensions lingering in the region, soccer players in Qatar split between leaving for safety and staying to fulfill club duties.
As authorities attempt to restore normal life in Qatar – at least for civilians, since tensions in the region persist and two more alerts were sent to Qatari mobile phones this Saturday – soccer players are divided between those who have chosen to leave the country and those who remain there continuing their professional duties.
As this newspaper previously reported, some players such as Javi Martínez and Joselu left the country as soon as the airspace reopened for repatriation flights. Their departure coincided with the Qatar federation’s decision to resume soccer – the league will restart on Thursday – creating an apparent contradiction: they left the country because of security concerns, yet they are still expected to meet their professional obligations, training and working with the clubs that pay them so they can compete again starting Thursday.
Other Spanish players have taken the opposite path. They decided to remain, alongside their families, and are trying to maintain a normal routine despite the difficulties. On his Instagram account, former Spain international Pablo Sarabia shared what appears to be everyday normality during the crisis: spending the morning at the beach with his children and training in the afternoon at Al Arabi’s facilities to prepare for the next league game.
This double standard also surrounds the Finalissima and the possibility of staging it in Qatar: for many, just as it was for Joselu or Javi Martínez, it makes little sense to be in a country whose neighbor Iran is still bombing American bases. Others, like most of the Spaniards playing in Qatar, believe the security guidance issued by authorities is sufficient for them to continue carrying out their profession.
That is the decision UEFA and CONMEBOL must weigh before the end of the week: keep Doha as the host city for the Finalissima and risk some players refusing to travel, or move the event – and the other five matches of the Qatar Football Festival – to another city, with the economic losses that such a move could entail.
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