Eric Cantona: David Beckham made a 'big, big mistake' becoming Qatar World Cup ambassador

Eric Cantona has criticised his former Manchester United team-mate David Beckham for his position as a 2022 Qatar World Cup ambassador. Former players Tim Cahill, Cafu, Samuel Eto'o, Xavi Hernandez and Ronald de Boer also hold ambassadorial positions for the tournament, due to be held in November and December this year. Ad At the start of 2022, Cantona said he would boycott the tournament in protest at the human rights abuses associated with the construction of some of the venues.

FootballBeckham queues for over 12 hours to see Queen lying in state16/09/2022 AT 14:37 Canonta said: “It’s only about money and the way they treated the people who built the stadiums, it’s horrible. And thousands of people died. And yet we will celebrate this World Cup.

Personally, I will not watch it. I understand football is a business. But I thought it was the only place where everybody could have a chance.” Speaking this week to The Atheltic, the former French international defended players who will attend the tournament.

He explained: “If you have a player who says, ‘I will boycott the World Cup’, you say, ‘Bravo’. But you cannot condemn a 20-year-old player, who has a 10-year career, who lives in a world surrounded by people from football 24 hours per day. Southgate's masterplan and WSL's blockbuster weekend — The Warm-Up Barcelona planning for Messi return — Paper Round All you need to know about the Qatar 2022 World Cup “But do speak about the federations, speak about the politicians, who have the power to say, ‘No, we do not go to the World Cup’.