David Beckham; Josh Cavallo
(Picture: Clive Mason/Getty; Dave Benett)David Beckham was criticised on stage at the Attitude Awards last night for his sponsorship deal with the Qatar World Cup, as gay footballer Josh Cavallo called him out on stage.
Picking up the Man of the Year award at the Camden ceremony, the Australian footballer said in his speech: “take that David Beckham!”. The crowd were supportive and laughed. Beckham has signed a deal worth a reported £10m to be the face of the Qatar World Cup next month. Homosexuality is illegal in the gulf state.
“Qatar, FIFA: the world is watching. Do you see us?” Cavallo said, adding: “I vow to stand up for the LGBTQ athletes and the fans at the World Cup in Qatar.”
Earlier this year Beckham said he supported British player Jake Daniels coming out, telling the Londoner: “It’s a shame that when someone does come out that it’s such a strange thing. I’ve always felt that way about when someone does come out… it shouldn’t be”. He went on: “At the end of the day there will be a huge amount of gay people in sports and why should they be any different from anyone else.”
Beckham said that football had improved on homophobia since his playing days. “I played for 22 years, I saw a lot of racism and homophobia and do think it has changed,” he said. “But there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
After that interview, Attitude magazine accused the former England captain of of hypocrisy. ‘When we speak about performative allyship, this is what we mean,’ they wrote on Instagram. ‘David Beckham continues to keep his money just about as far as possible from where his mouth is when it comes to the LGBTQ community.’
Mel C, who was in the Spice Girls with David’s wife Victoria, was performing at the awards at the Camden Roundhouse.
