COLOGNE, Germany (AP) 鈥� Former Germany coach Joachim L枚w has raised concerns about safety at the being hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
鈥淲e had debates before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But playing in a country that is actively at war is even more dangerous,鈥� L枚w told the Cologne Express newspaper in comments published Tuesday. 鈥淭he political situation completely overshadows the tournament.鈥�
The is ongoing, and a wave of violence followed the Mexican army鈥檚 killing of cartel chief last month.
L枚w, who led Germany to the World Cup title in Brazil in 2014, spoke on Monday evening at an event, focused on previous World Cups, with Rainer Bonhof, who helped West Germany win the 1974 tournament, and other World Cup winners.
Attention turned to the upcoming tournament near the end of their discussion.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know if you should play at all,鈥� Bonhof said to loud applause, .
鈥淕iven the current circumstances, for me only Canada is a neutral country,鈥� Bonhof said of the co-hosts. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to boycott any World Cup 鈥� we鈥檙e too fond of football. But we really need to think about security measures, which we haven鈥檛 considered yet.鈥�
Bonhof, who is currently the president of Bundesliga club Borussia M枚nchengladbach, said he 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 have any urge to go鈥� to Mexico because of the security situation there.
The German soccer federation in January of the World Cup despite calls from within at the time to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump. That was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
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