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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Stephen Killen & Isaac Johnson

"It shouldn’t be here" - Manchester United icon Roy Keane criticises decision to allow Qatar to host World Cup

Roy Keane has delivered a passionate message about the World Cup being held in Qatar, highlighting the human rights issues in the country.

The former Manchester United captain is currently in the nation covering the tournament for ITV, and made the statement in the build-up to Argentina’s clash with Saudi Arabia. There was controversy on Monday after several nations, including England, announced they would not be wearing the One Love captain’s armband after Fifa threatened sporting sanctions against those who did.

And now Belgium have been told they must remove the word ‘love’ from the back of their away kit if they wish to wear the strip at the finals. Among the heavy criticism aimed at the hosting of the World Cup by Qatar is its treatment of migrant workers.

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The majority of the population is made up from foreign workers and there are widespread reports of scores of them dying during the construction of the stadia. Eight venues are hosting games, with seven of them being built specifically for the World Cup.

Concerns over the awarding of the finals to Qatar have also been raised with claims of corruption being circled. Keane said it was right that such issues were being highlighted and became the latest pundit to speak out how “the World Cup shouldn’t be here”.

He added: “It’s been mentioned about corruption regarding Fifa. You’ve got a country here, the way they treat migrant workers, gay people - and I think it’s great it’s been brought up - they shouldn’t have a World Cup here.

“They can’t treat people like that. We love football, soccer and we want to spread the game but just to dismiss human rights flippantly because of football, it’s not right, it shouldn’t be here.”

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