Manchester United legend Gary Neville has called on football’s biggest names – Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona star Lionel Messi – to boycott the next World Cup as a protest against FIFA.
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With Sepp Blatter being controversially re-elected as president of the world football governing body, Neville believes the only way to challenge the corrupt organisation is by hitting them where it hurts.
Neville feels that if two of the biggest names in the game made a stand and chose not to play at the next World Cup, then maybe FIFA would take notice of people’s protestations against their running of the game.
There have been allegations over bribing for votes leading to Russia and Qatar being awarded the next two World Cup tournaments, while there is also a notable problem with treatment of workers in building stadia in the Middle East nation.
Neville feels stronger action is needed from those high up in the game, writing in his colum for the Daily Telegraph: “Fifa and Blatter would be nothing without the players. It would need to be a coordinated and united force.
“Just think of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the two biggest stars in the game right now, and consider a World Cup without those two.
“The tournament would not exist if Ronaldo and Messi turned their backs on the World Cup because of the way Fifa is running the game. This would impact sponsors and broadcasters and in turn bring this whole debacle of an organisation to a standstill.”