U.S. Soccer has decided to abandon hosting the USMNT’s January camp in Doha, Qatar, instead moving the camp to Florida. The USMNT made the announcement Friday night, less than 48 hours before the camp was scheduled to begin.
U.S. Soccer deemed Qatar too risky for the national team given escalating tensions in the Middle East.
An American drone attack killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran, among others, in Baghdad early Friday morning. Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised “forceful revenge” for the murder of Suleimani, similar to the equivalent of a Secretary of Defense and CIA Director for Iran.
.@ussoccer statement on the #USMNT's 2020 January Camp: pic.twitter.com/zl15icyzex
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) January 4, 2020
“Due to the developing situation in the region, U.S. Soccer has decided to postpone traveling to Qatar for the Men’s National Team’s scheduled January training camp,” U.S. Soccer said on the USMNT Twitter account.
Gregg Berhalter and a 25-man roster were set to train at the Aspire Academy in Qatar from Jan. 5-25 before returning stateside for a friendly against Costa Rica on Feb. 1 in California. A friendly against Jesse Marsch’s Red Bull Salzburg was scheduled for Jan. 18 in Qatar.
With the U.S. government assassinating high-ranking Iranian officials, U.S. Soccer made the decision to not send the squad to Qatar, which is located just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.
While you can’t argue with safety first, some have reasoned the U.S. shouldn’t have scheduled a training camp in Qatar at all. Qatar’s deplorable human rights record should have been reason enough not to hold a training camp in the country, even to prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
To make matters worse for fans of human rights, U.S. Soccer’s statement bent over backward to suck up to Qatar and say it would try to return to the country soon, saying this was a mere postponement.
“We are working with the Qatar Football Association to find an opportunity in the near future for our team to experience Qatar’s world-class facilities and hospitality,” U.S. Soccer stated, apparently forgetting about all the world-class facilities in the U.S.
Yuck.
Fortunately, U.S. Soccer made the sensible decision to avoid Qatar, at least in the short term. The camp will now begin on Monday at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
UPDATE: The #USMNT will now open its annual January Camp on Jan. 6 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) January 4, 2020
In case you missed it, here’s the 25-man roster for the training camp.
NEWS: Here’s the list of 25 players that will take part in the #USMNT’s annual #JanuaryCamp from Jan. 5-Feb. 1.
More Info>> https://t.co/Lp4gAfKbwI pic.twitter.com/4mExJy9yyl— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) December 30, 2019
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