Manchester United legend Eric Cantona has criticised his former teammate David Beckham for the controversial, and lucrative, ambassadorial role the Englishman has taken up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In November last year, Beckham was officially appointed as the leading ambassador for this year's World Cup, following which he was touted as "the face of Qatar" in a deal said to be worth a mammoth £150 million (R2.9 billion), according to United Kingdom publication National World.
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That decision has since sparked a lot of negative reaction from various quarters, with a number of human rights organisations slamming the former England captain for representing a country embroiled in alleged crimes against humanity, discrimination against women, and criminalisation of the LGBTQ+ community.
Last month, the former Real Madrid winger also appeared in a promotional video for tourism in the Gulf State called David Beckham's Qatar Stopover, which came in for a lot of backlash given the various allegations against the Qatari government, including the poor treatment of migrant workers.
Red Devils icon Cantona, who publicly criticised the tournament hosts in January before vowing not to watch the showpiece, has now insisted he would never assume the role his ex-United colleague has taken.
"I would not do it at all. I do completely the opposite," he said in an interview with The Athletic.
"In January 2022, I started to say that. Maybe I was the first one.
"But I am free to do it. And of course, an ex-player paid to do this kind of thing…
"It could be they don't know what has happened there.
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"Or, if they know it, I think they did wrong. I think they made a big mistake. A big, big mistake."
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