ITV’s World Cup final coverage has become one of the most complained about programmes of the year due to Gary Neville’s rant against the UK government.
Former England and Manchester United defender Neville used the occasion to vent about Rishi Sunak ’s government, who he accused of “demonising” workers. Neville, who is a strident Labour supporter, brought up the topic while discussing the myriad of issues surrounding Qatar.
He said: “The working system of Kafala which obviously through football the conversation has started and it's been removed here now in Qatar but it is abhorrent and we should detest low pay, we should detest poor accommodation and working conditions.
“We can never accept that in this region or any other region and it is just worth mentioning we've got a current government in our country that are demonising rail workers, ambulance workers and terrifying nurses.
“In our country we've got to look at workers rights but when football goes, we have to pick up on workers rights wherever it goes because people have got to be equal and treated equal.”
Ofcom have received 605 complaints from viewers about the programme. The complaints related to "politicised comments" from Neville and is a record for a sports programme this year.
That ranks it ninth on the list from the entirety of 2022, which does not contain any other sports programme. Love Island claims three of the top 10 spots, with viewers objecting to instances of misogynistic and bullying behaviour, while I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here has two due to Matt Hancock ’s controversial inclusion in the show.
An Ofcom spokesperson told The Mirror: "We are assessing this content as a priority and have asked ITV provide us with details about the broadcast to inform that work". ITV refused to comment when contacted by The Mirror.
Sunak has hit back at Neville over the claims, which are topical at the moment with NHS nurses and rail workers walking out over low pay during the festive season. The Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I don’t think that’s right at all.”
“If you look at our track record and my track record, as chancellor, I’ve always done everything I can to support our NHS and indeed, the wonderful people who work in it.
“I grew up in an NHS family. I spent my life working in my mum’s pharmacy, when I was younger. And if you look at what we did during Covid, we provided enormous support to the frontline at a time, when it comes to pay, when everyone else in the public sector experienced a pay freeze.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman added: “It is clearly not a legitimate or appropriate comparison in any way.”
Mr Sunak, speaking during a visit to Riga, said: “The one group that was singled out for special treatment were the NHS workers, rightly, who received that support but also beyond that for nurses, in particular, we’ve put in place nurses’ bursaries when they’re training to become nurses.
“The unions asked for a training budget once they qualified and again, as chancellor, we put that in place, to give nurses the support they need.
“So look, I know things are difficult at the moment for people up and down the country with inflation. Of course I get that. That’s why we’ve put an enormous amount of support in place for people’s energy bills.” He said that the government wanted to find a “sensible way through” on pay.
