Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed the club cancelled plans to hold its midseason training camp in the Middle East due to safety fears. The region’s warm weather is often seen as an ideal climate for footballers to rejuvenate and break up the European winter.

While Manchester United has not banned players from heading to Dubai, they have decided against taking the whole squad to the region, with Solskjaer conceding the current situation transcends on-field matters.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said “Yeah, if there is one thing that worries me it’s not on the football pitch,” Solskjaer told reporters. “There are other things that will worry me more than football. We were looking at the Middle East but that is definitely not going to happen.”

Escalating military tensions between Iran and the United States caused the Red Devils to change course. European countries on Tuesday took a step toward imposing sanctions on Iran for recommitting to its nuclear energy program.