Sunday October 24th 2021
For almost 180 million euros
Beckham is set to become the Qatar ambassador
Ten years for 177.2 million euros: According to a report, football icon David Beckham will be the face of the upcoming World Cup host Qatar. The former England pro has been linked to the Qataris since joining PSG and believes the tournament could change many things for the better on the ground.
David Beckham is said to be the new ambassador of the sports nation Qatar and collect an unbelievable 150 million pounds (177.2 million euros) for it. According to a report by the English tabloid “The Sun”, the football icon will be tied to the host of the 2022 World Cup for ten years and will receive £ 15 million a year.
“David has always spoken about the power of football to do good on many levels,” the newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for Beckhams as saying. The 46-year-old is looking forward to a “great tournament”. In the next month the engagement should be official, the nickname for the ex-soccer player should be “Goldener Ball”. Beckham, who has been associated with the Qataris since his time at Paris St. Germain, will also promote tourism and culture.
According to “Sun” Beckham is said to have come to the conviction during a visit to the capital Doha that fans could feel safe at the World Cup in about a year. Even rainbow flags should then supposedly be allowed in the stadiums, it said. Beckham is also reported to have been briefed of an allegedly increasing presence of women in government. Women’s rights are loud a report by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) from this March still extremely restricted. At the beginning of the month, Qatar had the Shura assembly, which advises the emir, elected for the first time. 26 of the more than 200 candidates were women – according to the Interior Ministry, however, not a single one was elected to the council.
“He firmly believes in the power of football to bridge differences,” an unnamed source told the Sun, “but has mainly seen the progress made on important issues.” He firmly believes that the tournament could change many things for the better on site. His wife Victoria, who years ago sang about women’s empowerment with the “Spice Girls”, had encouraged him in this.
Qatar is heavily criticized for its disregard for human rights. Homosexuality is forbidden there. The exploitation and death of several thousand guest workers, including on World Cup construction sites, was widely denounced.
Amnesty International urged in a new study Two months ago, the host of the upcoming soccer world championship asked to solve the problems of thousands of deceased migrant workers in the country and to pay compensation to the bereaved. Qatar was still failing to meet its human rights obligations to uphold the right to life because thousands of deaths were not properly investigated. In addition, according to the human rights organization, the desert state must continue to improve the working conditions of workers, especially with regard to the heat prevailing there. Amnesty called on FIFA and national football associations to put public pressure on the Qatari authorities to implement the study’s recommendations.