Watch: Ex-Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine speaks out on human rights ahead of World Cup in Qatar
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Former Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine has spoken out on LGBTQI+ rights ahead of going to Qatar as part of the Australia squad for the World Cup.
The 29-year-old played for the Dingwall outfit between 2014 and 2016, now plying his trade for St Pauli in Germany, and was this week confirmed as part of the Soceroos' squad for the biggest international tournament football has to offer.
However, the competition has been mired in controversy because of host nation Qatar's record on human rights.
A selection of European countries have pledged to wear a "One Love" armband, while last month Australia became the first qualified nation to speak out.
Now, Irvine has followed that message up individually by explaining his own connection to the LGBTQI+ community, and explaining his wish for more people going to the tournament to speak out.
"I've got family and friends who are members of the LGBTQI+ community, and it's a community of people that for a long time have been massively marginalised and discriminated against," he told Fifpro.
"Of course, it's always difficult because people will sometimes have beliefs that are totally ingrained, but even with some of those moments I think when they realise the majority is definitely in support of these communities then it makes them realise that the way they speak is not the way.
"I think the fact that we've seen players openly come out and be so overwhelmingly supported by the football community, people like Josh (Cavallo) have done more in that sense than anything we'll ever do for young players.
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"To see a young professional come out, speak so eloquently on the issue and be so openly supported by the football community across the globe, I think that speaks louder than any action ever will.
"It's obviously a serious issue involving the upcoming World Cup. The feeling of people in these communities, feeling unsafe and unwelcome at a tournament that is global and for everybody, this is not politics or religion, this is human rights.
"These are areas that we must always be supportive of, and I think that's probably what we need to see in the upcoming months.
"When you see people in football and players in sport openly supportive of issues, it does feed into wider society, definitely. Sport has a pretty unique way of influencing that, and for us that's a responsibility that we can take on board and try and help grow and support the education and support of these community and try and create that balance of quality that we all so badly want for all of society.
"Collective action is always more powerful than individual action, and I think we'll see more of that as more individual players become involved in being active in these areas."
Watch the full video below
