“I am sure it is something that does concern a lot of people and is something that we are going to have our voices heard about as well.

“Fair play to the countries who have made their statements early on.”

Irvine said the World Cup was the biggest stage in sport,and that he hopes soccer can continue to be used to bring such issues to the forefront of the public’s minds.

“All you can hope now is these countries and players and teams will be applying a bit of pressure to make some changes.

“There’s still another 18 months until the World Cup,there’s a lot to be done,so there’s a chance to maybe apply a bit of pressure there and see how that affects things moving forward.

“That’s becoming more and more important whether it is racial equality,equality across the board,players are now in a position to make those statements more publicly and draw more awareness to these things.”

The pandemic has meant the Socceroos have not played or been togethersince they beat Jordan 1-0 in a November 2019 World Cup qualifier.

In June the Socceroos will go to Kuwait and enter a “bubble” to playfour World Cup qualifiers in just over two weeks.

“We are all honestly itching to be back,” Irvine said.

“Every international break has been painful seeing the internationals from Hibs go away and play those games. For us to not be together for nearly two years it has been so crap,basically.

“We are about to go into the most hectic period the Socceroos will ever have with something like 14 games in qualifiers in nine months … a bubble in the Middle East in June will be a tasty experience in its own way.”