Denmark have easily qualified for the World Cup, but the association is still critical of the hosts. Several protests are planned over the human rights violations in Qatar.
As the Danish association DBU announced, the sponsors will make room for critical news about Qatar on the training clothing. In addition, the DBU will minimize the number of trips to Qatar for employees and partners, among other things, so that participation in the World Cup finals is primarily about participation in sport and not about advertising for events organized by the World Cup organizers. The national team’s commercial partners are said not to participate in official activities in Qatar.
“The DBU has been very critical of the World Cup in Qatar for a long time. But now we are intensifying our efforts and the critical dialogue further in order to use the fact that we have qualified ourselves to work for more change in the country,” said the Association boss Jakob Jensen in a statement. “In addition, we have long drawn attention to the challenges facing FIFA and Qatar, and we will continue to do so.”
Jensen is pleased that the sponsors are also pulling along and leaving space for messages, for example to improve the conditions for migrant workers in Qatar. “It is a very strong signal when our partners also work to improve conditions in Qatar,” he said. “The partners support Danish football, the men’s national team and athletic participation in the European Championship and the World Cup – not the individual host.”
Denmark had already taken part in protests in March , and the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, among others, also set an example.