Gary Neville came under fire for his involvement in Qatar 2022 while presenting the BBC television show ‘Have I Got News for You.’

The tournament will be held in Qatar later this month, a decision that has been widely criticised in the West due to the country’s alleged human rights issues.

While some high-profile individuals have spoken out against Qatar hosting this year, others, such as David Beckham, have taken on roles promoting the competition.

And, despite his criticism of the country’s alleged human rights issues, Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville will be a World Cup commentator for Qatar-owned broadcaster beIN Sports.

He defended his decision in an interview with Daily Mail back in October. He said:

“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. There’s no-one that I think wants workers’ rights to be better than me, there’s no-one who wants women’s rights, equality or diversity more than me, I absolutely believe in it.”

An Ian Hislop didn’t hold back on having a go at Gary Neville on the latest episode of Have I Got News For You, questioning the Englishman why he agreed to commentate on the World Cup in Qatar.

It was Paul Merton who first initiated the discussion by asking Neville about how much he thinks David Beckham is being paid for the promotion of the World Cup.

A cheeky question, met with a cheeky response from Neville, who replied, “I don’t know. More than me!”, before trying to divert the topic by asking Hislop if “it’s coming home?”

But Hislop was not having any of it. He fired straight at Neville sarcastically asking him whether he is talking about “his reputation?” before asking him to address the elephant in the room. He said to Neville: “The elephant in the room is you’re commentating there. What’s the defence?”

To which the Sky Sports man tried to defend himself again. He said:

“Yeah, I’m commentating. 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.”

Hislop quickly bit back suggesting that there is another option which is ‘stay at home’. He said:

“There’s another option: you stay at home and highlight the abuses. You don’t have to go and take the Qatari’s money. I’m not trying to be tiresome, but it’s not a very good defence.”

Gary Neville getting called out for his Qatari hypocrisy is a great watch. pic.twitter.com/exrOgBoJFm

— Emily Hewertson (@emilyhewertson) November 4, 2022

Footage via BBC

This exchange had visibly shaken Gary Neville, who appeared taken aback and looked very uncomfortable.

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