MY ACCOUNT
Beth Mead has stated her opposition to the men’s World Cup going ahead in Qatar, with England’s Euro 2022 hero saying it shows there is “no respect on a lot of levels”.
With the Qatar 2022 finals beginning on November 20, players are poised to depart within days for the finals.
Qatar’s human rights record has been widely criticised, with its treatment of groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers particularly highlighted by campaign groups
Mead, who is in a relationship with her Arsenal team-mate Vivianne Miedema, said the tournament was one she would not “be backing or promoting”.
Qatar was awarded the World Cup in December 2010 after a vote of FIFA members, to the disbelief of many in the game.
Officials from Qatar have strenuously denied allegations of corruption in the process, while saying the tournament will be a force for good in the country, and now they will get the world stage for football’s most prestigious event.
Mead told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “For me, from the minute it was announced I thought, ‘I mean, it’s not the best idea’.
“The way they think and how they go is the complete opposite to what I believe and respect, and although I’m cheering for the boys who are going to play football there, I still don’t believe it’s the right place.”
Mead was player of the tournament and Golden Boot winner in England’s women’s European Championship triumph, and she will hit the global stage next year when Australia and New Zealand co-host the Women’s World Cup.
She is disappointed that a country with Qatar’s rights record got to this point in being given such a platform by football’s authorities.
“But unfortunately money talks,” Mead said, “and the situation even of the stadiums being built and the amount of people who have passed [died] because of that, it’s not an ideal situation, and it’s not something I will be backing or promoting at all, but unfortunately it is going ahead.
“Just disappointing, I guess, in that sense of there’s no respect on a lot of levels, even though it’s a game of football.”
