"I will not be performing" - Dua Lipa released strongly worded statement against Qatar's human rights violations ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup

Triple Grammy winning English singer Dua Lipa has released a statement saying she won't be performing during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to human rights violations.

The famous singer took to her Instagram story to write:

There is currently a lot of speculation. that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar. I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup. One love, Dua x."

The London-born singer had famously performed in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final. However, she has distanced herself from the World Cup this time around.

Fifpro says players have been pushed past acceptable limits for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Fifpro recently revealed a report saying that players have been pushed past acceptable limits with the timing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Fifpro general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffman said (via BBC Sport):

"The number of players speaking up shows the degree of concern players have and there will be many, many more in dressing rooms who just don't publicly speak about it, In unions that work in the biggest markets where you have clubs and types of players who play basically all the time, they report back to us that in the dressing room visits this is the number one topic for many players that they see really impacting their careers. There is a lot of concern."

The recovery time of players after the tournament is also a concern as domestic fixtures start as early as eight days after the tournament.

Former performance director at Arsenal and Liverpool, Darren Burgess said ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

"Something definitely worth mentioning is the mental effect, particularly for the players who are playing in the latter stages of the World Cup where there is high pressure and high states, "[It could] potentially be between eight and 15 days from their last World Cup game and first club game and that is absolutely not enough time to mentally recover and digest and process the experience they have had at the World Cup. "It will undoubtedly lead to a lot of mental stress."