U.S. men’s national team players have been educated about the myriad of controversies surrounding Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, according to head coach Gregg Berhalter.
Qatar has been a controversial destination since it was awarded the World Cup nearly 12 years ago, and the dissenting voices inside and outside the sport have only grown since then.
Last year, a report from The Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers had died in the lead-up to the tournament. That is in addition to ongoing questions over the country’s treatment of women and the LGBT community.
“We’ve been talking to the players about what’s been going on in Qatar for about a year and a half now and really trying to educate the players,” Berhalter told Sports Seriously‘s Mackenzie Salmon. “We started this program called ‘Be The Change’ with the players during Black Lives Matter and it’s carried on through other social injustices as well.”
The USMNT has embraced a more activist role, notably writing an open letter to U.S. Congress this summer demanding changes to the country’s gun laws in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.
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There are expected to be a number of protest from teams at the World Cup, which could take on various forms. Denmark, for example, has said it will not participate in commercial activities arranged by World Cup organizers, and would wear messages promoting human rights on their warm-up shirts.
When it comes to any potential protest for the USMNT in Qatar, Berhalter said it would be left up to the players to decide.
“With this, we’re going to leave it up to the players, but it’s certainly something that we have been educating them [about] and now it’s about what do we want to do? And I think that the best thing any country can do is have a voice to bring change. I think as more countries do that, there could perhaps be change.”
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