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As the dust settles over Australia’s World Cup campaign, former star Tim Cahill remains under fire for remaining mute on Qatari human rights issues with a new video showing the retired Socceroo walking away from questions on the issue.
The Socceroos withdrew in the World Cup round of 16 after losing 2-1 to Argentina on Sunday. [AEDT] and they were supported by Cahill throughout the tournament.
Cahill seems unimpressed by the line of questioning, and a female voice chimes in off-camera.
The PR representative and Cahill then leave the interview without responding except for a brief “thank you”.
Cahill is the sporting director of Qatar’s Aspire Academy, which provided quality accommodation and training facilities to the Socceroos for the World Cup despite being the last team to qualify.
Cahill was also named to Qatar’s World Cup Supreme Delivery and Legacy Committee along with former England and Manchester United star David Beckham for the tournament.
Qatar has an appalling human rights record with an estimated 6,500 migrant workers dying during the construction phase of the World Cup.
The country also imposes harsh penalties for homosexuality, including imprisonment.
To date, Cahill has remained mum on those issues while enjoying the Gulf nation’s corporate hospitality.
Now, SBS News’ chief international correspondent Ben Lewis has published a view of Cahill skirting the issue outright.
‘Before the World Cup started I managed to secure a short interview with @Tim_Cahill. He happily answered my first two questions. This is what happened when I asked the head of the Australian delegation if he supported the Socceroos human rights video,” Lewis posted, accompanied by a video.
Cafu, Idris Elba, Samantha Johnson, Reshmin Chowdhury and Tim Cahill pose for a photo during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final Draw
The footage unfolds like this:
Ben Lewis: ‘The Socceroos put out that video a few weeks ago talking about human rights…’
Woman interrupts: [inaudible]
Ben Lewis: ‘I can ask that question.
Tim Cahill: ‘Thank you’
Ben Lewis: ‘May I ask if you would support that?’
Cahill and the woman, a public relations representative who works for the event’s sponsor, then walk out of the interview.
“Football Australia told us that Cahill would be happy to speak later in the week and was ‘not trying to avoid answering questions’. We mentioned that fact in our story that day,” Lewis continued.
‘I was scheduled to do a press conference later that week. But it was canceled at short notice due to scheduling issues. We asked repeatedly to see if a new time could be found, to no avail.
Ajdin Hrustic, Tim Cahill, Garang Kuol and Thomas Deng of Australia are seen before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D match between Australia and Denmark
‘Anyway, the interview/press unfortunately never happened. After the Socceroos made R16, Cahill released a selfie video message talking about the result. We didn’t use him, as the many requests we had made to speak with him had been turned down.
“We were told that when the games started, he wanted the focus to be on the current players, totally fair.
“Now that Australia’s brilliant run is over, we would still love to hear your views on working for the Qatar organizing committee and the Socceroos’ stance on human rights issues.”
Cahill celebrates scoring his first goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifying match between the Australian and Syrian Socceroos at ANZ Stadium
It comes after several pundits called on Cahill to speak out against human rights issues in Qatar, including former Socceroo analyst and current Craig Foster.
“I would love for Tim Cahill to step up and say something now, and I hope he does,” Foster told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The difference between the two is that David has created as part of his brand, he has been seen as a close ally of the LGBTI community.
He then refused to say anything about the criminalization of the LGBTI community in Qatar.
Australia’s manager Graham Arnold (L) talks to former Australian footballer Tim Cahill during a training session at the Aspire Academy in Doha.
“From Tim’s perspective, he hasn’t really said anything, whether it’s about migrant workers, the LGBTI community, women’s rights and other things.
“So Tim is in the great position of the vast majority of former players and I would love for everyone to speak up, including Tim.”
“I think they have a responsibility to do it.