‘The World Cup is stained’: Roy Keane hits out over Qatar human-rights issues ahead of final
The former Manchester United captain was speaking during ITV’s build-up to Argentina vs France
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Roy Keane has claimed that the World Cup is ‘stained’ due to human-rights issues in Qatar, where this edition of the tournament has been held.
There have been reports of thousands of migrant-worker deaths in the state, which is known to have anti-LGBT+ laws and attitudes.
Addressing “human rights” during ITV’s build-up to Sunday’s final between Argentina and France, Keane said: “This World Cup is stained, that’s the bottom line.
“The football’s been great, but the football was always gonna be great because you’ve got world-class players, but it is stained.”
It is not the first time that the former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain has been critical of the decision to stage the World Cup in Qatar.
During Argentina’s shock group-stage loss to Saudi Arabia, 51-year-old Keane said: “The World Cup shouldn’t be here. It shouldn’t be here.
“[There’s] the corruption regarding [global football governing body] Fifa, [and] you’ve got a country, the way they treat migrant workers, gay people.
“They shouldn’t have the World Cup here. You can’t treat people like that. We all love football, we love soccer, we’re on about spreading the game. Just to dismiss human rights flippantly because of a football tournament… it’s not right.
“The bottom line is we are talking about common decency, how you treat people. Football, the greatest sport in the world, there is so much money involved; there will be corruption. But let’s get back to basics, you have to treat people with decency. It should start and finish with that.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments