Gary Neville has claimed that Qatar receive more criticism over their human rights record compared to the UAE and Saudi Arabia whilst defending his decision to work for state-owned broadcaster beIN SPORTS.
Neville is in a spot of bother if facing backlash on social media over his decision to work for beIN SPORTS as a pundit during the upcoming World Cup.
Throughout the build-up to the tournament, Qatar have been heavily scrutinised over their attitude towards women and people within the LGBTQ+ community. Whilst many human rights groups have raised concerns over the country’s treatment of migrant workers.
Speaking to Sportsmail, Neville has highlighted that countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have worse human rights records.
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He said: “We are talking about Man City like it's a golden ticket - they're owned by Abu Dhabi, who have massive issues with women's rights, worker's rights, LGBTQ rights... exactly the same, in fact, worse, than Qatar.
“Qatar have had Amnesty International and the International Labour Organisation all over them for the last 10 years because of the World Cup.”
Neville added: “There's no one that I think wants workers' rights to be better than me, there's no one who wants women's rights, equality or diversity more than me, I absolutely believe in it.”
The 47-year-old also vowed to speak out on the above-mentioned issues during the World Cup.
Neville said: “When I highlight these issues, I can do so from a position whereby if I am covering eight games on beIN in a World Cup, and those issues come up or there's an incident outside the stadium, I will highlight them, as I will on ITV, as I will on my own channels. I will never shy away from it.
“The way construction workers and hospitality workers get treated in Qatar is not good enough and it is not right at all. So for me, I can understand where the criticism comes from because I put myself out there and to be fair try to defend people's rights in this country all the time and I'll continue to do that through football in different countries as well.
“It does not bother me in any way shape or form because I feel I've got quite a consistent and strong position on it.”
Neville then defended his former teammate, David Beckham’s £10 million deal to become an ambassador for the World Cup.
He said: “Beckham went to play for PSG who had Qatari ownership.
“Beckham to be fair to him has a relationship with the Qataris through his relationship with PSG, and the work he has done in terms of amplifying our country through the world is probably second to none in the past five to 10 years.”
Topics: Gary Neville, Qatar, Football World Cup, David Beckham
Marcus Chan