Gary Neville takes aim at King Charles and Prince William in Qatar World Cup hypocrisy row

Gary Neville appeared to take aim at King Charles and Prince William last night as he tried to justify his decision to take cash from Doha’s regime to front the football tournament.

The pundit, 47, who is working for Qatari broadcaster beIN SPORTS and ITV, claimed that the senior royals were hypocritical in shunning the region.

The former Manchester United defender said that William was ‘OK’ with the ex-Qatari prime minister donating £2.5million to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF).

He told ITV: ‘If Prince William doesn’t want to come to this tournament but he’s okay with his father taking charitable donations, that’s fine.’

‘If the political MPs don’t want to come over but are happy to take money from them in our country for their political parties that’s fine with me, but I always see it as footballers and ex-footballers coming under criticism.’ 

Gary Neville appeared to take aim at King Charles and Prince William last night as he tried to justify his decision to take cash from Doha’s regime to front the football tournament

The pundit, 47, who is working for broadcaster beIN SPORTS and ITV in Qatar, claimed that the senior royals such as the King were hypocritical in shunning the region

Neville has been accused of hypocrisy after taking Qatari money, but insists he ‘does not feel conflicted’ about going to the tournament. 

During his appearance on ITV, he said: ‘I don’t feel conflicted… in the last few weeks that’s come under huge scrutiny. I accept that position because I’m there to be shot at, and people have criticised me heavily as well as our colleagues over on the BBC who were yesterday. 

‘But the reality of it is, my view on it quite simply is that I detest workers’ rights abuses, I hate the idea of people not being paid enough money, working in poor conditions, the idea of people not having good accommodation. The women’s rights and human rights abuses. I can’t stand it. 

‘But I also have relationships with people in this part of the world and have done for many many years. Those relationships are long standing in our country. 

‘The fact that we buy most of our energy from the Middle East, that they own our banks, and the Royal Family have relationships with the Middle East – both sporting and charitable. 

‘You think our government and political parties have relationships with the Middle East. They own London Heathrow airport, they own the London Stock Exchange. It’s football that’s brought the scrutiny. 

The former Manchester United defender criticised William saying he was ‘OK’ with the former Qatari prime minister donating £2.5million to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF)

Neville claimed England manager Gareth Southgate and his Three Lions coaching staff should wear the ‘OneLove’ rainbow armband showing support for gay people after captain Harry Kane and others were forced to back down on wearing it

‘And football tournaments that have brought the scrutiny on issues that exist in these parts of the world.’

Qatar has been heavily criticised over its stance on human rights, particularly its attitude towards women and gay people, in the build-up to the World Cup. 

The nation, which criminalises homosexuality, has also come under heavy scrutiny from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers. 

Neville claimed England manager Gareth Southgate and his Three Lions coaching staff should wear the ‘OneLove’ rainbow armband showing support for gay people after captain Harry Kane and others were forced to back down on wearing it.

Football’s governing body FIFA made a U-turn yesterday, suddenly insisting skippers such as Kane would receive a yellow card for wearing the band during the match – in a mockery of their supposedly equal, neutral stance in the tournament.