November 16, 2022
The brief from today:
Hugo Lloris opts against protest
It was just a few days ago when France Football Federation (FFF) president, Noel Le Graet, came out with statements regarding player protests at the Qatar World Cup. Le Graet was of the opinion that France captain, Hugo Lloris, shouldn’t wear the armband meant to be in solidarity with the One Love campaign being supported by some European countries. The armbands in question will reflect a dual support for LGBTQ+ rights, as well as a protest against the laws in Qatar that prohibit those rights. Today, Lloris confirmed what his position on the matter would be, and he has opted not to wear the protest armband. The 35-year-old spoke to the press regarding his decision and explained as follows: “When we welcome foreign visitors to France we often would like them to respect our rules and our culture. I will do the same when I go to Qatar.” He went on to add that he would prefer to “keep the focus on the football rather than expend energy on things that are not our responsibility”, a position that was reminiscent of what FIFA urged World Cup participants to do last week. In the end, it seems Le Graet and Lloris are in alignment, and this also marks the first big European nation to declare a less political stance in Qatar.
Hugo Lloris has made his stance clear regarding political statements in Qatar
Scaloni threatens to change squad
Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, has made some unorthodox comments regarding the World Cup squad he selected. While addressing the press following Argentina’s friendly victory against the UAE today, Scaloni seemed far from impressed with the 26 players at his disposal. Sitting in the stands for the match were Paulo Dybala, Nico Gonzalez, Cuti Romero, and Papu Gomez, with each player either recently returning from injury, or are still working their way back to full fitness. Scaloni told the media that, “There are players who are not in good shape. I have the possibility to change the list of 26 for the tournament. We’ll see how the situation evolves.” What he means by he has “the possibility to change” isn’t quite clear considering the deadline to submit final squads to FIFA was November 14. Only in the event that a player is injured or ill, can a manager replace them as late as 24 hours before the team’s first match of the tournament. To be able to reach this threshold, however, the team doctor and FIFA General Medical Officer will both have to agree that the injury, or illness, makes the player unable to perform. It is only at this juncture that a coach can then alter his squad, so unless Scaloni has a way around this, his statement seems more like one geared towards keeping his players motivated to perform.
Scaloni seems to be trying to find ways to motivate his players to stay sharp before the World Cup