Tim Sparv did not intend to become a poster boy for footballers speaking out about Qatar. Even now the Finnish international, who captained his country at last summer’s Euro 2020, seems reticent to be thrust into such a role.
Indeed he stresses he is just one of many voices and certainly not the best informed or most articulate. But the 34-year-old midfielder, who played with Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Adam Lallana in Southampton’s FA Youth Cup final team of 2005, does seem to be the footballer who has best expressed the moral challenges of a World Cup taking place in the Gulf state next November.