England’s Eric Dier has made a passionate plea for the future of football to be placed into the hands of people who love the game.
As FIFA and the Football Association became embroiled in a stand-off about the decision to allow Harry Kane to lead the Three Lions into the World Cup wearing a ‘OneLove’ armband as a powerful statement against discrimination, the Tottenham defender admitted that politics have cast a dark shadow over the tournament.
Dier, 28, whose grandfather Ted Croker was a highly-respected administrator who worked as secretary of the FA for 16 years, admitted that he worries about the direction the game is lurching. The central defender has educated himself on how migrant lives were sacrificed building the seven new stadiums that will stage the games in Qatar.
And his message about how power must be wrestled away from the current status quo was loud and clear. Dier said: “Of course these issues are taking something away from the tournament - because we are sitting here talking about them instead of football.
“But we can’t hide from it. It would be wrong to ignore it. I am 28. I am still young. I have a long time to play. But I am very interested about what is going on. I have this conversation a lot with friends of mine within football about the future.
“For me, it is really important that football is in the right hands and that it is taken care of and cherished and looked after in the right way - because it means so much to so many people. It is the biggest sport in the world and the one that everyone loves the most.
“I talk about it a lot - and I am definitely interested in staying in football. It is my passion. I am not really into politics. I don’t know if I have the right thing for it. It is crazy talk, to be honest. But it is extremely important we take care of football in the right way.”
FIFA’s decision to hand the World Cup to Qatar is now coming under intense scrutiny on the eve of the tournament. England, Wales and a clutch of other nations have made it clear their captains will wear the ‘OneLove’ armband.
FIFA refused to give their blessing - and then announced their own armband initiative. It was immediately dismissed by the FA. Dier, who has previously taken to social media to voice his disappointment over Brexit, was born in Cheltenham but spent his formative years living in Portugal and came through Sporting Lisbon’s academy.
In his pre-tournament address, FIFA president Gianni Infantino accused some European nations of hypocrisy over their stance on migrant workers while borders are being closed. Dier spoke eloquently about the political pitfalls that footballers face just 48 hours before England kick-off their campaign against Iran.
Dier said: “We know these topics are going to be addressed and it’s a difficult situation for footballers. The World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010. I was 16 at the time, so it’s very difficult for me to talk about it.
“Players have absolutely no say in where we play. Those decisions are made by people way above us and we’re the ones who end up having to sit here answering these questions.
“It’s important to live this experience to have a much better idea of what to say. A lot of things are very disappointing. I’m talking about the buildings of the stadiums. Obviously it’s a terrible situation.
“It’s a World Cup and we’re extremely proud to be here to represent our country. At the end of the day, we are footballers - we’re not politicians - but we do have our values and we speak on them.”
