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Germany and Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm has announced that he is boycotting the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year.
The Middle Eastern state was controversially awarded football's biggest international tournament in 2010. According to The Guardian, in 2021, over 6,500 migrant workers have died in the Gulf state since they won the right to host the competition.
Lahm, who captained his nation to victory at the 2014 World Cup, has taken a moral choice not to attend the tournament later this year. He has questioned why it is being hosted in a country with such a poor human rights record. The legendary defender told German publication Kicker:
"I’m not part of the delegation and I’m not keen on flying there as a fan. I prefer to follow the tournament from home.
"Human rights should play the biggest role in the awarding of a tournament. If a country is awarded the contract that is one of the worst performers in this regard, you start to think about the criteria used to make the decision."
He added:
"That shouldn’t happen again in the future. Human rights, sustainability, the size of the country, none of that seems to have played a role."
Lahm also called for senior international stars to follow in his footsteps, as he stated:
"As a player, you can't get around it anymore."
Gareth Southgate rules out World Cup boycott from England
Plenty has been made of the controversies surrounding the upcoming tournament, with boycotts discussed among several countries.
However, when England boss Gareth Southgate was asked for his thoughts on the issue in March, he questioned what good his country boycotting the tournament would do. Southgate told Sky Sports:
"I don't really know what that achieves. It would be a big story, but the tournament would go ahead. The fact, unfortunately, is the biggest issue, which is non-religious and non-cultural, is what happened with the building of the stadiums and there is nothing we can do about that either, sadly.
"We have known for eight years that this is going to be in Qatar. Is the stance against Qatar as a country? We are intertwined, as we are seeing with Russia, with all sorts of investment in this country."
He added:
"This is complicated. The issues themselves aren't complicated; all the repercussions of diplomatic relations and dealing with other countries and other organisations are extremely complicated."
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will kick off in Qatar on November 21.
