I didn't understand it as against me, I just didn't understand :-). All fine. The super rich footballer appears to feel understandably uneasy given that he is "controlled" as he says. The point is that he and his peers could say 'no' to this exactly because they are "super rich", but they literally play to their sponsors in an industry that seems to have lost any human dignity.

Unfortunately his sentiment could be a foretaste of a society which we may be heading into. How will ( or already do?) citizens feel in a world of ubiquitous CCTVs and client-side scanning technologies where everything you do and say is constantly monitored and logged? What does this mean for the freedom of opinion and other human rights we in the so-called "western world" are so proud of?

So basically the players are speaking for those who previously did not have a voice....but we also already knew they were under an oppressive government.

Oppressive governments need to be removed from the world. Hopefully that statement at least is something others can agree on with me. Is there anyone out there who wants to be told what to do?

Yes I think you are onto something here. I think their concerns are primarily that their ability to speak and be heard is being compromised, which seems slightly different than explicit concern for women, LGBT persons etc that are clearly oppressed, especially in Qatar.

I'd like to see more from these wealthy jocks than complaints about being controlled. They have power that many don't have and if they have convictions about this that go beyond what affects them and their brand then they may be able to do some good.