Toby Alderweireld has admitted he didn’t even think about the Human Rights Issues when he accepted a move to Qatar from Tottenham in the summer.
The Belgian defender left Tottenham to join Al Duhail in an £11.7m deal in the summer, bringing an end to a six-year stay in London.
It also brought a temporary end to a long spell in Europe which started in Belgium but saw him playing for the likes of Ajax, Atlético Madrid and then Southampton and Tottenham in England.
The move to Qatar came as something of a surprise for many, given Alderweireld is only 32 years old and could have probably secured a move to a more competitive league.
Indeed, most had expected him to return to Belgium when he did eventually leave Tottenham, with several clubs there linked with him over the last year or so.
That never happened, and he instead made the controversial move to Qatar, a country that is embroiled in human rights issues, particularly around the planning for them to host the World Cup next year.
That’s something that played ‘no part’ in his decision, with him instead insisting the move was all about his family.
“People think it’s weird when I say that: he chooses his family, but he still goes to Qatar,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
“But here I can bring my children to school at 7 in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. That is fantastic. A priceless luxury I never had.
“People often see unfamiliarity as a negative thing. But you can’t really judge until you’ve been here. In Qatar, they also want to move forward.
“Every culture has its pros and cons. Everything takes a bit longer than in Europe, but apart from that, it’s pretty western here. Everything here is in Arabic or English.
“Actually, I had much more trouble making that step to Madrid in 2014. I didn’t speak Spanish. They barely spoke English. That turned square. So because everyone here is proficient in English, the adjustment is very easy. That move went smoothly.”
