A video of England fans singing ‘It’s Coming Home’ in Qatar has gone viral after claims that the organisers have employed fake fans to ramp up the atmosphere.
As Gareth Southgate and his squad arrived to their hotel in Doha, they were greeted by a group of fans wearing England shirts and they were belting out the popular song ‘It’s Coming Home’ whilst waving the nation’s flags.
According to The Times, the group of supporters also sang: “Southgate is our super coach, Sterling is our super star, Pickford is our super keeper.”
Fans were quick to react to the video and speculated that the so-called England fans may be fake.
One said: “The fact they’re wearing shirts that aren’t real and a flag saying “England Fans” definitely doesn’t seem odd.”
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Another commented: “I swear they're paying the workers to be fans at this point. I've seen them supporting like seven different countries.”
A third fan added: “Saw them all dressed as Brazil fans yesterday.”
Another person said: “World Cup from Wish. Ex-pats made out to be true England fans. Surely this can’t get any worse?”
However, one of the fans in the group said rumours about Qatar hiring people to ramp up the atmosphere are fake news.
He said: “If someone offered to pay us to support England we would turn them down. We are genuine supporters.”
This comes after some Dutch fans have decided to boycott the tournament due to Qatar’s human rights record, a decision that has been backed by manager Louis van Gaal.
He said: “They are right to do that, but I hope we play so well that at the end of the tournament when we play the final, they'll be watching on TV how good we are.”
The first match of the tournament will get underway on Sunday with Qatar taking on Ecuador.
Topics: England, Qatar, Football World Cup
Marcus Chan