BBC Bashed For Not Airing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Opening Ceremony
The FIFA being held in Qatar has been quite controversial since the start. During the opening ceremony, the BBC bashed Qatar for violating human rights.
Sports fans, lawmakers, and journalists have all criticised the BBC for their choice to not broadcast the Qatar World Cup opening ceremony live.
On Sunday, the World Cup began in Qatar, a Muslim country that has come under fire for its handling of foreign employees, tolerance of LGBT people, and social constraints. Qatar is betting its reputation on hosting a successful World Cup.
One of the attractions of the ceremony was a performance of a brand-new event song titled Dreamers by Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi and vocalist Jungkook of the K-pop boy band BTS.
According to a report, the BBC restricted the event to the “Red Button” service (extra programmes that can be accessed by pushing a red button on the TV remote) and online.
The report said that instead, BBC One’s reporting was mostly concentrated on the claimed human rights and other allegations against Qatar.
Match of the Day anchor Gary Lineker greeted audiences at the beginning of the public network’s coverage on BBC One by saying, “It’s the most controversial World Cup in history and a ball hasn’t even been kicked.”
The story continued by stating that BBC will not comment on the decision to move the official opening of the biggest athletic event in the world.
The BBC’s decision was criticised by British columnist Piers Morgan as being unbelievably insulting.
He remarked, “If they’re that appalled, they should bring home their vast army of employees and spare us this absurd hypocrisy.”
In a different tweet, he criticized the BBC’s decision to broadcast the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Are China’s human rights violations not as severe as those in Qatar?
“Thirty minutes into the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup and football hasn’t had a mention. Overpaid @GaryLineker and co-lecturing the world on climate emissions, human rights and more,” British MP Scott Benton complained.
Why did they go if they were that bothered? Could have saved tens of thousands of dollars and covered it from the UK,” he remarked.
The BBC’s decision to criticise Qatar’s record on human rights was understandable, but commentator James Melville said he could not recall them expressing the same thing when China held the Winter Olympics.
Ayman Mohyeldin, a journalist, expressed a similar opinion. The BBC protested by not airing Qatar’s World Cup opening ceremony. However, the BBC broadcast the Winter Olympics grand opening in China just nine months prior, which he described as the epitome of double standards and hypocrisy.
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