Gary Neville has hit back at the criticism he has received since announcing he will join beIN Sports as a pundit for this winter's World Cup in Qatar.
The channel is owned by the Qatar state, which will host the tournament that kicks off in a month's time. The Middle East country outlaws homosexuality and has faced heavy criticism from human rights groups, while former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is among the high-profile figures to take aim at the tournament.
Despite the numerous concerns over Qatar's attitude towards human rights, Neville recently revealed he will join their broadcaster as a pundit. Neville faced a heavy backlash after announcing his link-up with beIN Sports.
But he has now hit back at that, claiming that Qatar has been unfairly scrutinised, despite neighbours Saudi Arabia also having a dreadful human rights record. He insisted that progress has been made, despite homosexuality remaining illegal in Qatar and little obvious reforms to improve the lives of migrant workers.
"Qatar have had Amnesty International and the International Labour Organisation all over them for the last 10 years because of the World Cup. Saudi Arabia have come into our country to own Newcastle and they've got terrible human rights issues over there and people work for them in this country," he told the Daily Mail.
"We either decide that we collaborate with these countries, and try and impact change through football - which is what I think we should always do - or we say we're never going to let them play sport, we're never going to have a World Cup there, we're never going to allow them to compete against us because they don't have what would be as progressive rights as they should have.
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"That is the reality of where I'm at with it. There's no-one that I think wants workers' rights to be better than me, there's no-one who wants women's rights, equality or diversity more than me, I absolutely believe in it.
"When I highlight these issues, I can do so from a position whereby if I am covering eight games on beIN in a World Cup, and those issues come up or there's an incident outside the stadium, I will highlight them. I will never shy away from it."
Neville has been accused by some of taking the job at beIN merely for the likely massive wages. Though he has played down that suggestion on Twitter, writing: "“If you think I make decisions based on money you’re wrong but happy for you to go with it! The money will make no difference to me whatsoever.”
It is unknown how many games Neville will cover for beIN Sports, with the Manchester United legend also set to work for ITV during the World Cup. Neville last worked for the English channel during their coverage of qualifying for the tournament. The World Cup gets underway on 20 November, with the hosts facing Ecuador in the first game of Group A. England's campaign starts a day later with a clash against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium.
