Gary Neville says the World Cup has ‘transformed’ Qatar and praises the country for ‘changing human rights and freedoms’ – but admits football fans being banned from drinking alcohol will be, ‘like going to the chippie and not having chips’
- Gary Neville describes World Cup as ‘the most special tournament in the world’
- He says the story of Qatar hosting it is among the most ‘extraordinary’ in football
- But he also criticises country for its approach to workers’ and women’s rights
- Comes as part of Neville’s documentary ‘Countdown to Qatar’ for The Overlap
Gary Neville has said the World Cup has ‘transformed’ Qatar as he praised the country for ‘changing human rights and freedoms’ – but admitted football fans being banned from drinking alcohol will be, ‘like going to the chippie and not having chips’.
In a promotional video, the former Manchester United player said the story of how this year’s tournament came into being was ‘one of the most extraordinary in football’.
However, he also criticised the country for its approach to workers’ and women’s rights, as well as attitudes towards LGBT people.
It comes as part of Neville’s new documentary Countdown to Qatar for The Overlap in which he examines ‘whether this small country in the Persian Gulf peninsula is ready to host the biggest tournament in the world’.
Speaking in the documentary, Neville describes thoughts in England towards football fans in Qatar being banned from drinking alcohol.
He says: ‘I think we’re one of the only nations that continually asks about alcohol because we are driven by alcohol as a nation and it’s aligned with football.
‘It’s a bit like going to the chippie and not having chips, basically.’
Neville goes on to describe the World Cup as ‘the most special tournament in the world’.
He also outlines how the country has spent ’11 years and around £160billion building seven new stadia’ along with hundreds of miles of new roads and metro lines that have transformed its capital Doha.
But Neville also touches on Qatar’s human rights records and the uproar it has faced in the build-up to the tournament, with ‘thousands’ allegedly injured or killed while constructing the infrastructure.
The former Manchester United player said the story of how this year’s tournament came into being was ‘one of the most extraordinary in football’
But Neville also criticises the country for its approach to workers’ and women’s rights
The decision to award the famous football tournament to Qatar has been shrewd in controversy
Neville outlines how the country has spent ’11 years and around £160billion building seven new stadia’
Hundreds of miles of new roads and metro lines have also been constructed in the Qatar capital of Doha
He says: ‘But this country is very different from any previous World Cup host and by far the most controversial.
‘The country has taken small steps towards democracy but it’s ruled by a monarchy.
‘There are huge questions on women’s rights and homosexuality remains illegal. Then there’s its record on workers’ rights and freedoms.
‘Three years ago I was invited over by the World Cup organising committee to see how they were preparing on the condition that somewhere was off limits and I’d have full editorial independence.
‘Now I’m back to see how the World Cup really is transforming the country, and how human rights and freedoms have changed.’
In the video, Neville displays visible shock at the living quarters for World Cup workers as he is shown around an official accommodation facility.
Neville says: ‘It’s a portakabin with four curtains (screening off sleeping areas) and two lockers on each side. The wealth in this country and that level of accommodation for people, with the sacrifice they are making. It’s just inequality like you would not believe. It’s staggering really. This is not a home.’
Though Neville is shown around accommodation facilities that the World Cup Supreme Committee want him to see, the Mail on Sunday has reported on far more wretched quarters. At the Al-Sheehaniya in 2019, we found a stinking room into which ten Indian men were crammed, with children’s bunks for beds.
Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International insist that the true picture of life for workers behind Qatar’s furious 2022 building effort is not to be found near the stadiums ‘where visiting journalists go looking for evidence’ but out of the city.
Neville expresses serious concern about workers’ wages of $275 month, reduced to $55 a month after they send much of it home to families. He tells the documentary-makers: ‘I find it uncomfortable because when I buy a bowl of pasta and a beer or coffee, that’s a week’s wages.
‘If that was my son, my daughter, my brother, I would not want them to be in this position. The disparity is one of the largest gaps you will ever see and there’s no need for it because this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world.’
An accommodation official dismisses his concerns, insisting that workers can do overtime if they wish, earning time and a quarter on weekdays and time and a half at weekends.
Soulless metal buildings are being advertised as portakabins for fans that will stay in Qatar
Al Thawadi admits to Neville that there will discrimination if gay couples kiss in public during the tournament.
When Neville asks if this will be a problem for Qatar, Al Thawadi replies: ‘It’s important to highlight first whether it’s a gay couple or otherwise. Public displays of affection are not part of our culture.’
Pressed on whether couples will be told to desist: Al Thawadi says: ‘Yes.’
Neville had previously downplayed the human rights issues in Qatar, questioning reports suggesting workers were dying because of the conditions.
After supporting Qatar’s controversial bid to host the World Cup this year, he said in a previously documentary: ‘Do we believe that on those sites, in front of Western project managers, workers are dying and they’re hiding it?
‘Are we really saying that’s happening? I find that difficult to believe because I’ve got more faith in people.’
Al Thawadi said in the original documentary that since 2020 only three workers had died of work-related causes, adding: ‘The number of 4,000 deaths is inaccurate.’
Afterwards, Mr Neville said in a voiceover: ‘There is a real struggle to find out what the real number is. But… we can’t disprove the number of three. And we certainly can’t prove the number of 4,000.’
Last year a Guardian analysis suggested 6,500 migrant workers had died in Qatar since 2010, when it was chosen to host the tournament.
The former England defender twice turned down the opportunity to condemn Qatar’s treatment of women, gay people and migrants when asked by the Mail on Sunday.
He now seems to have changed his tune with the competition less than two months away.
Countdown to Qatar, by Buzz 16 productions, screens Sunday at 9.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League.
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