I WILL NOT BE GAGGED BY FIFA

GARETH SOUTHGATE says he will not be gagged after FIFA asked World Cup managers to focus on football.

And the England boss (above) told the game’s governing body his players will be free to speak out on the political and human rights issues that surround Qatar 2022.

As protests over Qatar’s treatment of the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers gather even more pace, FIFA

president Gianni Infantino (right) wrote to the 32 national associations of the countries taking part asking them to “let football take centre stage”.

But Southgate said: “Frankly, I’ll choose if I’m going to speak or not and I’m pretty sure the players will as well.

“We do have some influence and we have tried to use that. A number of the players have been across some really good causes in the recent past. So we won’t stop doing that.”

FIFA have still not officially sanctioned club captains wearing the One Love rainbow armband and a Qatari World Cup ambassador, Khalid Salman, this week said homosexuality was “damage in the mind”.

But Southgate said: “We stand for inclusivity and we are very, very strong on that.

“If it wasn’t for the strength of that community, we wouldn’t be women’s European champions.

But he added: “We would like to focus primarily on the football. “It is the thing you work for your whole life and you don’t want that to be diminished by everything else that is going on.”