We expected him on the question, he who does not usually answer on the side, whatever the subject. Asked about the holding of the World Cup in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is criminalized, Antoine Griezmann defended his values, without going too far either, for example on the question of wearing the rainbow armband. Members of the LGBT + community “know that they will always have my support, no matter where I am in the world,” said the Blues striker, present at a press conference this Friday.
Griezmann had made the cover of the magazine Stubborn in May 2019, in the context of controversies over persistent homophobia in stadiums in France. “Homophobia is not an opinion, but a crime. And, from now on, if a player makes homophobic remarks on the ground, I think that I will stop the match, ”he said.
“They know they will always have my support”
Asked about his past positions and about a possible embarrassment at the idea of disputing this World Cup in a country where homosexuality is liable to criminal prosecution, the 2018 world champion recalled that the priority was still his job. .
” A little embarrassed ? Yes and no. No matter where I am in the world, they know they will always have my support. But I’m a footballer, that’s my profession. My country calls me to play a competition, I come with pride. They have all my support, all my respect,” he insisted.