Gary Neville gets ‘called out’ for his Qatar hypocrisy on ‘Have I Got News For You’ as he made the rare appearance in the show’s hot seat.
The former footballer turned pundit was joined regulars Ian Hislop and Paul Merton for the BBC show which takes a light-hearted dig at recent current events.
G Nev dished out the questions and received positive reviews for his debut in the role. But, many viewers took to praise Ian Hislop as he took aim at Gary Neville’s decision to fly to Qatar to cover the World Cup.
He confirmed he will be going to the Middle East despite huge controversy over the winter World Cup and the ethics of the Saudi country where foreign labourers lost their lives building the stadiums and LGBT rights repressed.
Gary Neville getting called out for his Qatari hypocrisy is a great watch. pic.twitter.com/exrOgBoJFm
— Emily Hewertson (@emilyhewertson) November 4, 2022
Neville, working for beIN Sports as a commentator throughout the World Cup, tried to justify his decision by suggesting he can make a greater impact working for the broadcaster to highlight key social and political issues.
‘You know David Beckham, don’t you? He’s going, isn’t he? How much is he being paid?’ Paul Merton asked Neville.
‘I don’t know,’ came Neville’s reply. ‘More than me!’
Trying to take back control of the news agenda being debated on the show, Neville turned to Ian Hislop and asked if ‘it’s coming home?’
‘What, your reputation?’ came the reply.
Hislop felt other panellists had been ‘very gentle’ with Neville be he ruthlessly went for the ex-footballer in search of answers as to why exactly he has accepted Qatari money.
‘The elephant in the room is you’re commentating there. What’s the defence?’ Hislop asked.
‘Yeah, I’m commentating,’ Neville said.
‘Well, you’ve got a choice, haven’t you? My view always has been that you either highlight the issues and challenges in these countries and speak about them, or you basically don’t say anything and stay back home and don’t go. And I think we should challenge them.’
‘The other option is you stay at home and highlight the abuses. You don’t have to take the Qataris’ money. It’s just not a very good defence.’
Neville’s appearance on the show was so crucial topics discussed surrounding the World Cup, including members of the LGBTQ+ community being told they should ‘flex and compromise’ while respecting host nation Qatar by UK foreign secretary James Cleverly.
‘It’s unbelievable and it’s all about money and you’ve got mainline celebrities going over there for huge cheques,’ Richard Madeley said, unfazed by Neville being a few feet to his right. ‘You’ve got people like Robbie [Williams] going out there to sing, which I must say I’m very surprised about given all the comments that Robbie Williams has made in the past about gay rights.
‘The fact that he’s going out there to sing is extraordinary. I don’t know what’s happened to people. And it’s not just him, the Black Eyed Peas are going, aren’t they?’
Last month, Neville defended his decision to form part of beIN Sports’ media and commentary team for the tournament.
‘We are talking about Man City like it’s a golden ticket – they’re owned by Abu Dhabi, who have massive issues with women’s rights, worker’s rights, LGBTQ rights… exactly the same, in fact worse, than Qatar,’ Neville told Sportsmail.
‘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 – the journalist killed there a few years ago, for example – and people work for them in this country.
‘We either decide we are going to work with these nations in the middle east – we have sold about 40 billion quid’s worth of arms to middle eastern countries over the last 10 years as a UK Government, they own half of London and are probably donating to the Conservative party.
‘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.
‘That is the reality of where I’m at with it.’
SEE MORE: Jurgen Klopp goes into extraordinary six minute rant about Qatar World Cup
Twitter users reacted as Gary Neville gets ‘called out’ for his Qatar hypocrisy on ‘Have I Got News For You’…
@Fer39133045Lisa: Just saying what we’re all thinking
@essex_george: @GNev2 he has 5.4M followers on Twitter, he can reach more on here. But then he wouldn’t get paid for it.
@jv_goddard: I agree with a lot of Gary Neville’s politics, but the fact he’s accepted a job by BeIn Sports stinks of sportswashing & hypocrisy. As a Utd fan, & seeing Becks compliant in this too, is disappointing.
@87Mave: I agree. Becks was a hero for me growing up and its sad to see he’s promoting this hard. Sad to see Nev off over there too, I think deep down he’s got a good heart and intentions but this choice will always be used against him when he highlights any issue here in the UK.
@Tugsy: I particularly enjoyed the stunned look on comrade Neville’s face when Ian pointed out the third option.
@trizzler88: Wow, Gary knows he’s been done there
@seandavid96: Even though I agree he is a hypocrite, wow I had a lot of second hand cringe for Gary there..
@HarryBarnes1: Love this, so glad to see Gary Neville pegged back a bit
@pavyg: Brilliant! It’s about time the sanctimonious and virtue signalling @GNev2 is exposed for the hypocrite he is.
@DominicFarrell: Neville ripped apart for taking the Qatari 30 pieces of silver on the backs of hundreds of dead migrant workers and the cruel treatment of gay people. In one clip, the utter hypocrisy of socialism and @UKLabour @GNev2
@ConCowan9: Fair play Ian Hislop calling out Gary Neville and saying what the whole country is thinking 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 #HIGNFY #QatarWorldCup2022
@architectom89: Gary Neville with absolutely no defence on why he’s taking a job with the Qatar national broadcaster for the world cup. Credit to Richard Madeley for calling out the hypocrisy straight to his face #haveIgotnewsforyou #hignfy
@DavidHa85564773: Gary Neville is on I’ve I’ve got News for you talking about the cost of living. like a gives a fuck about the working class people he talks out of his arse and he’s probably being paid about 35 grand to do the Program hypocrite springs to mind
@thelovelysarah: Well done, Ian Hislop and co, for highlighting the hypocrisy of @GNev2 and the others making money off of the #QatarWorldCup2022 whilst pretending they give a shit about the human rights abuses #hignfy
@GoonerTaIk: This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Look at Gary Neville, hoping for the ground to swallow him up, as he tries to defend the indefensible. Trying to play the moral high ground card after taking a bag of money from Qatar. Hypocritical cunt.
@stevenmorrish: I like Gary Neville, but Ian Hislop and co on #HIGNFY pointing out his hypocrisy in going to the World Cup is bang on. These people need to just be honest and say they are going for the money and stop pretending they care about the human rights issues, no one is being fooled
@pompeyblue17: I like how Gary thought they were going to or trying to make a joke then realises what they are saying is right
The face of an exposed virtue signaller. pic.twitter.com/bI11DuiUqA
— Star Whovian 👽 (@StarWhovian) November 4, 2022
— Conor S (@ConorSm14393183) November 4, 2022
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