Jordan Henderson has sparked further controversy after the England midfielder offered his support to Saudi Arabia's bid for the World Cup in 2034.
The Gulf nation are set to make a proposal to host the tournament, days after it was confirmed the 2030 World Cup will be played in Morocco, Spain and Portugal. Australia are set to rival Saudi Arabia's bid for the tournament, with FIFA giving interested parties 25 days on Thursday to lodge their offers.
Henderson, who moved to Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool back in July, has now become the latest high-profile player to back Saudi's bid. In a social media video to Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, which is based in London, Henderson gave his support to the Saudi proposal.
"Very excited about the announcement," he said. "Go Saudi Arabia 2034." Al-Ahli's Riyad Mahrez, Al-Ittihad's Karim Benzema and Saudi Arabia national team boss Roberto Mancini have offered their support to Saudi's bid as they aim to beat Australia - who are in a race against time to form a detailed bid.
As for Henderson, the 33-year-old has come in for severe criticism over the past couple of months following his move to the Saudi Pro League in the summer. During his time at Liverpool, Henderson was one of the most high-profile supporters of the LGBTQ+ community.
Henderson has faced significant backlash for his move to a country where homosexuality and same-sex relationships are outlawed and can be punished with the death penalty.
Speaking in an interview with the Athletic, Henderson admitted he could "understand the frustration from the LGBT+ community, but insisted "his intention was "never to hurt anyone" and "has always been to help causes and communities where I felt like they had asked for my help".
Fans on social media were far from pleased with Henderson's latest message, however, after he backed the Saudi's bid. One said: "He didn't think this would find its way to an English audience. Complete embarrassment." Another added: "What a really terrible bloke he's turned out to be." A third claimed: "Just absolutely shameless."
A fourth admitted: "Sad. Lost all respect for him," as another blasted: "Pathetic." Despite the criticism faced at him, Henderson was named in the latest England squad for matches against Australia and Italy later this month.
There was a similar backlash to Henderson's selection during the September internationals. After Henderson was called up, Southgate defended his midfielder. He said: "I don’t really know what the morality argument is because so many of our industries are wrapped up with Saudi investment.
"Given the situation with Russia we are reliant on Saudi Arabia for a lot of our oil. They're invested in so many British industries but I don't hear any noises about that. It's only the football that's highlighted.
"The LGBT+ stance is a religious belief in that country. It's very difficult to work through all that so until somebody tells me differently on whether I can or can't pick players if they're playing in different countries...
"My job is to pick a football team. I don't think you can pick a football team based on any prejudice about where they might be playing their football. I am a bit lost with some of the questioning. You walk in to talk about a squad for football and we are wading into complex political situations, which I am not really trained to do. We will do the best we can."
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