Sergino Dest: Ajax's USA defender leaves Qatar training camp amid Iran tensions

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/09/sergino-dest-ajax-training-qatar-iran-soccer-usmnt

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Ajax and USA defender Sergino Dest is leaving the club’s winter training camp in Qatar, amid high tensions in the Middle East, the club have announced

Ajax and USA defender Sergino Dest is leaving the club’s winter training camp in Qatar, amid high tensions in the Middle East, the club announced on Thursday.

Ajax said Dest asked to leave the camp because “he did not feel comfortable.” The club said it “understood the request and honored it.” He will continue training with the club’s juniors in Amsterdam.

Dest’s request to leave came a day after Iran launched missile attacks on two military bases in Iraq that house US troops. The missiles were a retaliation following an American drone strike that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. Dest, who has a Surinamese-American father and Dutch mother, decided last year to play for the United States instead of the Netherlands. Last week, the US men’s national team cancelled plans to train in Qatar this month “due to the developing situation in the region”. They will instead train in Florida.

Ajax are in Qatar, the host country for the 2022 World Cup, for warm weather training and two friendlies during the Dutch league’s winter break.