David Beckham has sparked widespread backlash after appearing in a video promoting Qatar as “perfection”.
Beckham, an ambassador for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, prompted fresh criticism from human rights campaigners after the former footballer gushed over the country in a new advert.
Amnesty International slammed the former English captain for “yet again” failing to acknowledge Qatar’s human rights violations while encouraging tourists to visit.
“Qatar really is an incredible place to spend a few days on a stopover,” Beckham says in the advertisement.
In his first major advert since signing a $277 million deal with Qatar, Beckham can be seen sailing on a boat, riding a motorbike and visiting a spice market ahead of the World Cup beginning in November, spruiking the host nation in a video for Qatar Tourism.
“The modern and traditional fuse create something really special. It’s one of the best spice markets that I have ever been to. This will go down as one of my favourite mornings,” he says.
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“This is perfection, I cannot wait to bring my children back.”
But the new ad has also drawn backlash across social media, with some users accusing the footballer of promoting a “heinous country”.
“If I was David Beckham I simply wouldn’t hire myself out to whitewash a corrupt autocratic state that works literal slaves to death,” tweeted one disgruntled fan.
“It’s all about money for Beckham. It’s an insult to all gay people, many of whom used to regard Beckham as on their side. Not any longer,” wrote another.
Tweet from @georgiebingham
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Amnesty International has previously accused Qatar of treating foreign workers poorly during construction of its World Cup facilities.
It argues the country relies on forced labour and that the deaths of thousands of migrant workers resulted from human rights abuses and careless and inhumane working conditions.
In other concerns, it is illegal to be gay in Qatar, while women must gain approval from male relatives before they can marry, study or travel.
In December last year, the human rights organisation called on Beckham, 47, to condemn the exploitation of workers in Qatar, after it emerged he had inked the controversial deal as the face of November’s World Cup.
Amnesty International UK’s head of priority campaigns Felix Jakens scolded Beckham for making “no mention of the country’s appalling human rights record”.
“This is just the latest slick and positive video about Qatar that David Beckham has put his face to,” he told The Telegraph.
“Beckham’s global fame and status are PR gold for Qatar’s image, but he should be using that same unique profile to call on Fifa and the Qatari authorities to properly remedy the terrible abuses that tens of thousands of migrant workers have faced in building the infrastructure to deliver the World Cup.
“Beckham has said he hoped football would prove a force for good in Qatar. At the moment it seems his involvement is good news for Qatar’s tourist industry, not for human rights.”
Beckham is yet to respond publicly to the criticism.
