Gary Neville launches two-and-a-half minute rant defending Qatar World Cup | Football | Sport
Gary Neville has launched a two-and-a-half minute rant defending the Qatar World Cup. The Manchester United hero is currently working as a pundit for ITV and Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports at the tournament in the Middle East.
Qatar were awarded the rights to host the World Cup in 2010 and were heavily criticised in the lead-up to the tournament due to their human rights, treatment of migrant workers and stance on same-sex relationships.
Many critics around the world called for a boycott of the tournament. But Neville instead chose to work for beIN Sports during the World Cup in exchange for a six-figure payment, according to reports.
And while some pundits have continued to be critical of Qatar since the tournament began, Neville has leapt to the country’s defence. “I think there’s then an element of, a lot of the English press have never been over here to this country, and it’s quite difficult once you’re over here and you get to speak to people and learn about what goes on in this region and how things work,” the ex-right-back said.
JUST IN: BBC boss ‘unapologetic’ as he hits back at ‘woke’ World Cup coverage
“And not understand that this is, you know, difficult to carry on criticising it when you understand it more and you’re here and you feel it on the ground. That’s definitely happened.
“And then a little bit the Qataris, it feels like, and maybe some of the other nations who are aligned with Qatar are just pushing back a little bit and saying, ‘hang on a little bit – you’re not all bed of roses yourself’ and ‘let’s have a look at where you’ve been and what you’ve done on your journey over the last sort of evolution of 50, 100, 200, 300 years.’
“Now we come here, we’ve got this massive scrutiny – it’s a positive scrutiny though because kefala has been abolished. We need to make sure all the businesses and companies are abiding by it – we don’t know if that’s the case yet but there are many that are and that’s a positive out of this tournament.”
DON’T MISS
Liverpool star Alexander-Arnold speaks out on viral Bellingham picture
Granit Xhaka at centre of FIFA probe after World Cup gesture
World Cup LIVE – England duo in Liverpool hint; Brazil hit by injury
But Neville did concede that Qatar should still be scrutinised after the tournament comes to an end. “There is progression in this country because of the scrutiny of football, we’re going to keep talking about it. What I’m going to keep doing in seven or eight weeks when we’re all talking about the Premier League again in England and no one’s even thinking about Qatar, the migrant workers, and thinking about stadiums and working practices, kefala and LGBTQ rights, women’s rights.
“Maybe that’s when we should continue shining lights on things in each others’ countries when the spotlight is off. That will be really interesting to see if that happens.”
