The famous singer stated she would not go to Qatar unless it "fulfilled all the human rights pledges" it made when it was awarded the right to host the World Cup in 2010. She said: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar, I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host.”placeholder image
The famous singer stated she would not go to Qatar unless it "fulfilled all the human rights pledges" it made when it was awarded the right to host the World Cup in 2010. She said: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar, I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host.”

Celebrities against Qatar World Cup 2022: List of Celebs who condemned Qatar or refused to perform at the World Cup

Thomas Mackay
By Thomas Mackay

Search and Trends Writer

Published 21st Nov 2022, 15:23 GMT
Updated 21st Nov 2022, 15:49 GMT

The Qatar World Cup has been shrouded in controversy ever since the Middle Eastern nation first announced the tournament back in 2010 and while some celebrities are proudly participating, others are condemning the event.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicked off on November 20 and it has already seen a lot of controversy. FIFA and Qatar have been condemned by the Human Rights Watch over reports that migrant workers were paying illegal recruitment fees in the year leading up to the event.

A spokesperson said: “The real legacy of this tournament will be how Fifa, Qatar, and anyone profiting from this World Cup left families of thousands of migrant workers indebted after they died and left many migrant workers who had their wages stolen uncompensated.”

Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ activists have condemned the event being hosted in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Despite backlash even from footballers, many stars have advocated Qatar and agreed to perform there like Robbie Williams and David Beckham, but who has gone against this trend?

Here are the celebrities who have condemned or refused to take part in the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The comedian went viral after publicly challenging David Beckham to drop his ambassadorship for the World Cup in Qatar and said in a video he uploaded to Twitter in November that he would donate £10,000 of his own cash if Beckham agreed to do so. Seeing Beckham as a 'gay icon', Lycett said: “You were the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans. But now it’s 2022 and you’ve signed a reported $12 million deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the Fifa World Cup."

9. Joe Lycett

The comedian went viral after publicly challenging David Beckham to drop his ambassadorship for the World Cup in Qatar and said in a video he uploaded to Twitter in November that he would donate £10,000 of his own cash if Beckham agreed to do so. Seeing Beckham as a 'gay icon', Lycett said: “You were the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans. But now it’s 2022 and you’ve signed a reported $12 million deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the Fifa World Cup." Photo: Matt Crossick

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Former footballer and BBC pundit Gary Linekar criticised the UK foreign secretary's caution to LGBT+ people at Qatar by sarcastically writing on Twitter: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?” According to The Guardian, Linekar said that the BBC's coverage of the World Cup would address the controversy of Qatar as a nation, he said: “I’m sure we’ll do it on the first night. Obviously, we’re not going to do it in every buildup to every game, but of course we’ll talk about it and openly.”

10. Gary Linekar

Former footballer and BBC pundit Gary Linekar criticised the UK foreign secretary's caution to LGBT+ people at Qatar by sarcastically writing on Twitter: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?” According to The Guardian, Linekar said that the BBC's coverage of the World Cup would address the controversy of Qatar as a nation, he said: “I’m sure we’ll do it on the first night. Obviously, we’re not going to do it in every buildup to every game, but of course we’ll talk about it and openly.” Photo: Anthony Devlin

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