To wish David Beckham and Robbie Williams would just admit ...

[strawberriesplease]

They've taken the Qatar gig for the money and screw everyone else.

Beckham saying it's to support future progress and Williams saying people complaining are doing so on Chinese technology so it's hypocritical.

Just own it. You love the money so much, despite already having huge wealth, you just couldn't resist it.

If you watch that Amnesty International video the workers are basically bonded labour slaves dying literally in their thousands and ultimately for what?

For money

You clearly are rich.

you can afford 5 flights a year. You can afford to live in a country you were not born in. You have international family links and wealth to waste on shares.

”Immigrant” does not mean poor - quite the opposite. Travel costs. I work with people who struggle to afford to travel to the next town. Only well-off people migrate across distances. The rest of us are made to pay and pay again.

I am sick of the lies we are told.

"I suspect I speak for more women than you do".

Well, at least you've achieved something noteworthy.

It was directed at those saying ‘corruption is rife everywhere so why single the Qatari gov’ - my point is:
if we only start taking a stand when there is no corruption anywhere then we will never start. There is always a comparable wrong but sometimes you have to say ‘no, I won’t support that’ (even though there is hypocrisy: eg the lithium I use to charge the I-phone I typed that is on mined by children)

Qatari money is everywhere in the UK. People will be spending thousands in Harrods today.

I saw how migrant workers were treated in Dubai when visiting for work and I would never holiday there. I would never visit Qatar. However I've travelled on Qatar airline and on Emirates and bought clothes and electronics made in China. So I'm not sure I'm in a position to judge others. Many countries have oppressive regimes. Hopefully the World Cup is highlighting issues many seem unaware of, but I expect those who worship at the shopping malls of Dubai will continue to do so. It's always about money.

In 1966 England hosted, and won, the World Cup. Homosexuality was illegal at the time, raping your wife wasn't illegal until 1992, 2 years ago a child of immigrants died due to the dire housing conditions in England.

Are we so far ahead of Qatar? In the history of humanity we are barely a step ahead.

It's as much remaining relevant and in the public eye which is like an addictive drug to these people.

Linker says no and somebody else gets the gig, then where is he? There are other football pundits out there.

Beckham, same. Chance to relight his football fame.

Robbie Williams is just a narcissistic self serving bell**d with shit music.

Also Robbie is misguided if he doesn't think his fanbase will include people who do try to boycott products from China, who do complain about Nestle, who actively campaign on human rights issues and make their shopping choices accordingly.
Lots of people balance principles with finances, choose to pay their taxes here rather than setting up shell companies or moving overseas, etc.
What all these men seem to be missing is that everyone can see they don't 'need' this money. They 'want' it more than they care about the issues. They're being paid to try to whitewash the regime. But what's actually happened is the regime's reputation has pulled them down with it.
And it's going to put the Covid numbers through the roof since all the 'fans' are herded into tiny little boxes. But hey, who cares - FIFA's coffers are much more important than health, principles, human rights ...

Agree. I went to Dubai 6 yrs ago and was horrified by my own ignorance. Hated it and will not return. Now much more considerate about where I choose to holiday. We can’t all be perfect but we can be mindful and make small changes where it’s possible and within our means to do so. The DBs of the world, who can afford to make bolder choices and don’t are shameful.

@TintinHadToBeMale

I can't afford 5 flights a year, some were carried over & some were paid for by family.

I was born here!

I never said all immigrants are poor but my parents had nothing when they came to the U.K. My mum first left her home country at 17 as she needed to find work & eventually ended up in London. You don't have any idea about my life or background.

I am sick of the lies we are told.

Maybe take off the tin hat!

@Ponesta exactly it's a very grey area. And I can see the point @RiverSkater says about celebs needing to stay relevant.

The players don't earn much (by their standards) for playing for England. They make their money playing for their clubs. When they pull on a national shirt, it's for the honour of playing for their country - it's not where the money is. Players clamour to be included because the world cup is something special, where you get to represent your country. It's not about money for the players.

It never should have been awarded to Qatar. But the fact that it was is down to the corruption inside FIFA.

I'd also just point out that the 2018 World Cup was in Russia. Another country with admirable values.....not.

It's not just Qatar, and it's not just football. The Olympics have been held in Russia and China too.

I agree that it's a terrible idea rewarding a country that has shitty human rights. But it's a much wider problem than people realise - Qatar is a bit of a band wagon that many have jumped on because it's in the news.

As others have said, unless you're avoiding purchasing any goods from China or any other oppressive state, not holidaying in Dubai etc, then really it's just virtue-signalling.

From a footballing perspective, Qatar is a bloody nightmare as it means breaking off midway through the regular season. So ignoring all the very awful human rights issues, it was a terrible idea just for sporting reasons anyway. Someone, somewhere had a backhander to award this to Qatar. They won't care if half the usual audience don't watch it - they've achieved their goal (excuse the pun!).

Anyone else who wants to claim that rich male footballers cannot be criticised for their dismissal of women because ‘everyone flies’ and ‘everyone holidays in Dubai’ may like some hard figures on that.

fullfact.org/economy/do-15-people-take-70-flights/

15% of people take 70% of flights is the gist. Not everyone flies and not everyone holidays in Dubai.

My SA husband says they would never have allowed SA to host anything like this in the apartheid years.

It’s all about bribes and backhanders.

@ArseMenagerie but the line is arbitrary isn't it? We can say David shouldn't do it because he doesn't need the money & it's ok for me to buy cheap tat because I'm "poor". David might be thinking I need to stay relevant & I do need the money because I'm poor compared to Elon Musk.

They're Men and straight....so why would it bother them.

Gary Neville commenting on the 1936 Olympic Games ! 🤔

twitter.com/TheIDSmiths/status/1592120376871604226

We also have a King who took millions of Qatari cash in a bag so perhaps David thinks well it's this any worse?

It's amazing how Charles got such little criticism over that!

In fact SA weren’t even allowed to watch big tournaments on the TV in the apartheid years - Dh was a young lad then mad keen on football, particularly English football teams.

It's not especially fair to equate the two though, IMO.

A multimillionaire can afford the 100% ethical choices. Hell, they can afford it for every member of staff. He could hire a full time ethics and sustainability researcher to ensure that, to the best of his abilities, no action or purchase of his brought harm to another human being.

Not really the same for Kirsty from Scunthorpe who needs a smartphone to run her side hustle selling on Facebook because her FT job doesn't pay her enough to live.

So that makes it OK?

Strawman argument.

We need to also remember how places have gone backwards too. Cos our tolerance enables that and there is a fragility than is at risk if do not acknowledge the problem with a gay icon promoting Qatar for such a large amount of money. Beckham didn't need to do it.

I said this on another thread but I think there is a class element to the criticism. Many seem to see Dubai holidays and football as a lower class thing.

Is Dubai in Qatar?

There is absolutely no class element to the criticism.

Is Dubai in Qatar

Nope, why would you think that?

There is absolutely no class element to the criticism.

I disagree