“It shouldn’t be here.”
Roy Keane has said that Qatar should not be hosting the World Cup.
According to human rights agencies, as many as 6,500 migrant workers died working on construction projects for 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,” Keane said on ITV’s coverage of Argentina versus Saudi Arabia.
“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?”
You can listen to the former Manchester United captain below.
"The World Cup shouldn't be here, you've got a country and the way they treat migrant workers, gay people. We're on about spreading the game but dismissing human rights, it's not right. It shouldn't be here."
Powerful words from Roy Keane about the World Cup in Qatar pic.twitter.com/lAUbItPC0Z
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 22, 2022
Graeme Souness was also on ITV and said that, in a ‘perfect world’, the country would not be hosting the tournament.
“They’ll be praying that the football will make it a great tournament and people won’t be talking about [sportswashing and human rights issues] going forward,” he said.
“But I’m afraid, you know, there are so many activists out there and they will forever be talking about Qatar and their human rights record. That’s a fact of life. They have to deal with that, and by having a World Cup here, they have a chance to make certain things right but they are not going to do everything right. We don’t live in a perfect world. No one lives in a perfect world.”
Related links.
- Qatar bans all alcohol at the World Cup.
- Inflation pushes average cost of filling Panini 2022 World Cup sticker album to almost £1k.
- Jurgen Klopp says players shouldn’t be expected to protest at the World Cup.
