Henderson gives passionate defence of Saudi Arabia bid to host World Cup

15 October 2023 , 21:30

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Henderson gives passionate defence of Saudi Arabia bid to host World Cup

Jordan Henderson has insisted Saudi Arabia would put on a “special tournament” if they get the World Cup.

Henderson gave a passionate defence of his decision to back the country’s bid to stage the World Cup as they are red-hot favourites to host it in 2034.

World governing body FIFA are facing widespread criticism for taking the tournament to Saudi Arabia because of the nation’s human rights record, its laws on homosexuality and treatment of women.

Former Liverpool captain Henderson spoke out ahead of Qatar staging it last year but has now put his name to the Saudi bid and even posted a video promoting it.

Henderson moved to Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq in the summer and, when asked whether he was happy to put his name to it, he said: “Yeah. I mean, 2034 I think by that time I think they will put on a pretty good World Cup, to be honest.

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“So I think it's exciting times for them as a country and I think it will be a special tournament if they end up getting it. I've been there for two months and there's been no issues in terms of fans or anything like that. So again, I think they'll enjoy the experience there. It will be a long wait, but I think they'll enjoy the experience there.

“I think, you know, when we look at Qatar, the way that they did the job there. It was a good tournament, I think the fans enjoyed the tournament and I think Saudi would be no different.”

But Henderson also suggested that he cannot understand why people are trying to drag him into politics when he wants to play football.

He added: “I’m not a politician. You know what I mean? I’m not going to get into politics. All I’ve ever done is concentrate on my football and try to help people that have asked for my help.

“When I’m going out there, I’m just playing football trying to improve the league, trying to improve my own team and trying to win football games. I do the same when I come here.”

John Cross