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Football

22nd Nov 2022

‘Soccer’s Nelson Mandela’ – Joe Brolly questions Roy Keane after World Cup comments

Robert Redmond

“Soccer’s very own Nelson Mandela.”

Joe Bolly has criticised Roy Keane after the ITV pundit said that Qatar should not be hosting the World Cup.

Ahead of Saudi Arabia’s shock victory over Argentina on Tuesday morning, Keane questioned FIFA’s decision to award hosting duties to Qatar and questioned the country’s human rights record.

Keane’s comments were widely praised on social media, yet Brolly took issue with the ‘fawning’ over the ex-Manchester United captain.

The former RTÉ GAA pundit tweeted:

“People fawning over Roy Keane. ‘The World Cup shouldn’t be here’, he says, yet he is, in person, at the World Cup. Soccer’s very own Nelson Mandela.”

Roy Keane’s comments on Qatar staging the World Cup.

According to human rights agencies, as many as 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar working on construction projects associated with the World Cup.

Keane said that the country’s human rights record means that they should not have been allowed host the tournament.

“The World Cup shouldn’t be here, it shouldn’t be here,” the Irishman said on ITV’s coverage.

“It’s been mentioned there about the corruption regarding FIFA, the country, the way they treat migrant workers, gay people.

“I think it’s great that it’s been brought up. They shouldn’t have the World Cup here, you can’t treat people like that.

“We all love football, we all love soccer, we’re on about spreading the game, just to dismiss human rights flippantly because of a football tournament. It’s not right. It shouldn’t be here.”

“The bottom line is… We’re talking about common decency, how you treat people,” Keane continued.

“We go over it again how sport, boxing, etcetera, soccer, obviously, is the greatest sport in the world. There’s so much money involved that there will be corruption, but let’s get back to basics.

“You’ve got to treat people with decency. It should start and finish with that?”

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