Rafa Nadal considered that in a “global world” there must be “freedom of expression” after the controversies at the Qatar 2022 World Cup

The Spanish Rafael Nadal affirmed this Thursday that anyone “should have freedom of expression”, referring to the FIFA ban on displaying “political signs” such as the flag of the LGTBI + community at the World Cup in Qatar.

“We are in a global world in which people must have more and more rights. Everyone should have the freedom to express the feelings they have, as long as they do not harm others.said the tennis player at a conference in Santiago de Chile.

However, he qualified that the goal of the World Cup should be soccer: “Sports is a place to express yourself, because it has global exposure at the media level, but, beyond all that, for me the important thing is that you end up playing football.”

“The decisions that FIFA makes or doesn’t make may seem better or worse to me, but in the end they are rules and attitudes that they want to take at their event. The rest should be free to express themselves and show their disagreement, as is already happening”, added.

FIFA prohibited soccer players from showing “political signs” during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a controversial decision in response to criticism of the lack of labor rights for people who worked on the construction sites of the tournament stadiums or the country’s harsh laws against the LGTBI+ collective.

Last Sunday, FIFA denied England, Wales, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium the possibility of wearing a rainbow armband with the motto “One Love”.

The prohibition of these symbols generated harsh criticism of the organization of the competition, which materialized in protests such as that of the German team, whose players covered their mouths with a hand in the photo before their debut match in the tournament.