David Beckham ‘proud’ of Qatar ambassador role at World Cup despite LGBTQ+ rights criticism

David Beckham has insisted he was not upset by the criticism he received over his decision to accept millions of pounds from Qatar as a football ambassador for last year’s World Cup, despite the country’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

When asked if he had done his homework on what life is like for gays in the Arab country, he said at the premiere of his new Netflix documentary: “I always do that.

“Let the football speak for itself, it was a great tournament, a lot of people were happy.

“I had a lot of conversations with the LGBTQ community when I was there. They said they enjoyed the matches and they felt it was the safest World Cup they had had in a long time, it was an important match and that I was too. proud to be part of it.”

Qatar’s criminalization of homosexuality and human rights violations led many to criticize the awarding of the tournament.

Di Cunningham, co-founder of Three Lions Pride, said at the time: “One of the problems we have is people taking the money to promote Qatar, to promote the World Cup.

“We are so disappointed because the LGBTQ+ community has put David Beckham on a pedestal as a great ally and then it turns out he is an ambassador for this World Cup and that is incredibly disappointing. So I hope the message has gotten across that people will be criticized for that.”

Beckham has been widely criticized for his decision to accept millions of pounds from the Qatari regime, given campaigners’ claims that the community is living under persecution and abuse by police.

“Once we got there, we knew there would be people talking about it a little more,” Beckham said. “I’ve always said it should be a game that should be shared around the world.

“This was an opportunity for another country and for the Arab world to host a World Cup where one of the biggest sporting events in the world would take place.”