Denmark football team to wear training clothes with ‘human rights messages’ at World Cup in Qatar

Denmark’s national football team is set to wear “human rights messages” on their training uniforms at next year’s World Cup in Qatar

Denmark, who qualified for a spot in the tournament last month, is set to wear training clothes with “human rights messages” when they play at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

After the team’s qualification, the Danish football federation stated on Wednesday that it had launched a series of “critical initiatives” to bring along to the games.

Qatar, a national already facing criticism amid reports of discriminatory laws and conditions for the migrant workers, are preparing the country for the tournament.

The news comes as the country faces fresh scrutiny over last year’s invasive medical examinations on women who arrived at Qatar airport, when a baby was found in a bin.

On Wednesday, a group of Australian women, some of whom were subjected to invasive medical examinations after authorities found an abandoned baby at Doha international airport, revealed plans to sue the Qatar government, according to a statement released by their lawyer.

Danish soccer federation to carry messages as a sponsorship

The Danish soccer federation, known as DBU, said the two sponsors for the training outfits would refrain from exposure on the clothes and would instead carry “critical messages and markings”.

“DBU has long been strongly critical of the World Cup in Qatar, but now we are intensifying our efforts and critical dialogue further, so that we take advantage of the fact that we are qualified to work for more change in the country,”

Danish soccer federation managing director Jacob Jensen said.

The team added that it would also minimise the number of trips to Qatar for staff and partners so “participation in the World Cup finals is primarily about sporting participation and not promoting the World Cup organisers’ events”.

The federation added that it would “continuously conduct due diligence” on its choice of hotels for team players and other services in Qatar to see that labour rights were respected. It also said it would consider the possibility of other initiatives to improve conditions in Qatar.