Joe Lycett has become the latest celebrity to share his frustration at David Beckham and his decision to become an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup.
The footballing legend has been heavily criticised for accepting £10 million to be an ambassador for Qatar. A televised campaign he starred in, which claimed the World Cup will be carbon neutral, has been reported to UK and European watchdogs.
The comedian posted a video to Twitter in which he is sat at a desk with £10,000 in cash and said Beckham’s “status as a gay icon will be shredded” if he does not rescind his relationship with Qatar.
He offered to pay £10,000 to charities “that support queer people in football” if Beckham pulled out of his contract, but, will shred it ifhe goes ahead.
Joe Lycett has threatened to shred 10k unless Beckham cuts ties with Qatar
Twitter: Joe Lycett
Yui Mok
The stand-up comedian said: “You're the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans, and you married a Spice Girl, which is the gayest thing a human being can do.
"But now it's 2022. And you signed a reported £10m deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup.
"Qatar was voted as one of the worst places in the world to be gay. Homosexuality is illegal, punishable by imprisonment and, if you're Muslim, possibly even death.
"If you end your relationship with Qatar, I'll donate this 10 grand of my own money, as a grand for every million you're reportedly getting, to charities that support queer people in football.
"However, if you do not, at midday next Sunday I will throw this money into a shredder just before the opening ceremony of the World Cup and stream it live on a website I've registered called benderslikebeckham.com.
"Not just the money, but also your status as a gay icon will be shredded. You will be forcing me to commit a crime."
Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, has claimed he has “no plans” to attend the World Cup due to a busy winter schedule but may look at going if England reaches the final.
But as the tournament nears, pressure to boycott the World Cup grows, with campaigners beginning to ask celebrities such as Robbie Williams, who will be performing in Doha, not to support the World Cup.
Fifa has written to all teams competing telling them to “now focus on the football” following a controversial build-up.
Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told French newspaper Le Monde the reasoning behind the boycotts “do not add up”.
“There is a lot of hypocrisy in these attacks, which ignore all that we have achieved,” Sheikh Mohammed added.