What Zlatan Ibrahimovic loves most about Qatar is everything.
He stated this at a press conference in Sweden on Tuesday, giving a score of 10/10 to all aspects of the World Cup and applauding the country’s lack of crime and drug problems.
The 41-year-old AC Milan striker was left out of the Qatar 2022 final due to Sweden failing to qualify, but he was the guest of the final, having been pictured in an exhibition match Argentina against France alongside tennis superstar Novak Djokovic. .
Asked about his impressions of the tournament and the country as a whole, Ibrahimovic said: “It was fantastic. It’s great how it turns out. I was there for two days with my family.”
He gave a summary of his scores on all aspects he encountered, saying, “Organisation: 10 points. Experience: 10 points. Match: 10 points. Crowd: 10 points. Food: 10 points. Travel: 10 points. Everything was 10 points.
When it was pointed out to Ibrahimovic that Qatar was being criticized for alleged human rights violations, Ibrahimovic stuck to his topic and gave the country the final score.
“Ten points,” he said.
Thank you for an unforgettable visit and the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will forever remain in the history books. pic.twitter.com/daGdBz1wGM
— Zlatan Ibrahimovic (@Ibra_official) December 21, 2022
Pressure groups say women and people from LGBTQ+ communities, as well as migrant workers, are treated particularly badly in Qatar.
Ahead of the World Cup, Amnesty International said hundreds of thousands of such workers had been exploited, pointing out that thousands were dying suddenly or unexpectedly.
The same organization said last week that “many thousands of workers have failed to receive compensation for the appalling wrongdoings associated with the World Cup” and called on football’s world governing body FIFA to fix it.
Critics accuse Qatar of trying to “tarnish” its reputation by hosting a successful major event that runs smoothly and paints the country in a positive light internationally.
However, Ibrahimovic will not make such an accusation against Qatar because he spent 10/10 of the time during his stay.
In another interview with SVT, the former Barcelona, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain striker added: “I think they gave me a job opportunity. Then, how they treated them, I was not there and did not see, so I can not judge and answer these questions.
Ibrahimovic played for PSG during the early years of the Qatar Sports Investments era at the Parc des Princes, with Qatari club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi joining him and Djokovic for their final World Cup photo.
So the Swedish veteran has such a close connection and Ibrahimovic said, “Qatar as a country, I think it’s a system that works. Are there drugs? No. Is there a crime? No. Is there crime in Sweden? Yes very. Drugs? Yes.
“The Qatar system is working. Swedish system? It works, but if it works 100 percent, I don’t know.”