Swedish World Cup star Kosovare Asllani (33) asked Zlatan Ibrahimovic (41) and other male players to realize the impact they have – after the superstar’s tribute to the Qatar World Cup.

Prior to the World Cup in New Zealand, Milan’s Asllani received a lot of media coverage in his native country.

In an interview with He directed strong criticism at Aftonbladet against his former teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his award at the Qatar World Cup.

In March, the Swedish superstar made a splash when he gave Qatar and the championship “ten out of ten points” on all fronts.

Qatar has been accused of a number of human rights violations, incl others with Amnesty. Asllani reacted strongly to Zlatan’s “score”:

– I find that very unintelligent. Choosing to respond to social issues in this way where you are in a position to be able to make a difference in society says a lot about the person in question, Asllani said in an interview with Aftonbladet.

Check out the situation that caused the furor here:

Asllani himself has played for Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City – clubs which have owners from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates respectively.

On Press conference before leaving for WC, he was asked how he defended his own choice of club:

– What can I say about the fact that I played for City and PSG? What do we get? As much as this phone? said Asllani, before him according to Aftonbladet pointed at the cell phone in front of him.

– There is no money in women’s football. It’s impossible to compare.

The 33-year-old explained that the criticism of Zlatan goes beyond the Qatar World Cup:

– What I mean is that male players should be aware of what platform they have. They are in an excellent position to influence the next generation. It is very important for them to understand that. I think they should use that responsibility to create change in society, explained Asllani.

He considers Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a Swedish footballer of all time to have a special responsibility as a role model.

– Everything he said, we listened to when I was little. If he says “phones are a jerk”, we go around saying the same thing. If you say that women’s football is trash, that’s what we hear from boys too, said Asllani.

– Now I might generalize, but I believe that most male players don’t put the energy into knowing other things, when they only get questions about football, concludes Asllani.