Jurgen Klopp goes on six-minute rant about journalists not criticising 2022 World Cup in Qatar earlier

ByNigel Chiu

Updated 05/11/2022 at 13:16 GMT

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp slammed the media for not asking more questions and criticising the decision to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup. Klopp was asked about players being injured less than two weeks before the tournament, before he expressed his anger about the event. “You are all journalists, you should have sent a message,” said Klopp in his press conference.

Jurgen Klopp went on a six-minute rant about the media’s portrayal of the 2022 World Cup in his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s game with Tottenham.

Klopp believes journalists should have criticised the decision to award Qatar the World Cup back in 2010, rather than only questioning things just weeks away from the tournament.

Allegations of bribery and controversy surrounding human rights issues have been prominent in the build-up to the event, which begins on November 20

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“I will watch it from a football point of view and I don’t like that players, from time to time, get in a situation where they have to send a message,” said Klopp. “You are all journalists, you should have sent a message. You didn’t write the most critical article about it - and not because it is Qatar and things. No. About the circumstances, which was clear.”

He questioned whether everyone “did enough” when the announcement was made and says FIFA’s letter to nations to focus on the football is “not ok”.

“Now we are telling the players you have to wear this armband and if you don’t do it you are not on their side and if you do it you are on their side,” Klopp continued. “Players go there and play to do the best for their countries. I see in the news all the time ‘How does it feel to be here?’ It’s all not ok for the players.

Jurgen Klopp

Image credit: Getty Images

“It’s a tournament, it’s there, and we all let it happen and it’s fine because 12 years ago nobody did anything then. We cannot change it now, go there.

“How it happened in the first place was not right. But now it’s there, just let them play the games.

“Don’t put Gareth Southgate constantly in a situation where he has to talk about things. He’s not a politician, he’s a manager of England.

“If you want to write something else about it then do it, but do it by yourself rather than just asking us and all these kind of things - ‘Klopp said’ and ‘Southgate said’ - as if it would change anything. We all, you more than I, let it happen 12 years ago.”

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He added: “It was the first time in history they announced two World Cups in one go [Russia and Qatar together].

“In the moment when you put it in Qatar, all the things that followed up it was clear.

“The people at that time, everybody that was involved, should have known. At that moment that we later talk about human rights in the sense of people have to work there in circumstances which are, saying it nicely, difficult.

“We couldn’t play the World Cup there in the summer because of the temperature. It’s now pretty hot [there].

“There was one stadium in Qatar so they had to build stadiums and nobody thought about that.

“That’s the situation, and it can just make you angry. How can you not?”

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