Entertainment
Ross Kemp says World Cup ‘shouldn’t be in Qatar’ but we have to follow country’s rules: ‘Fifa are to blame’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘Fifa are the people to blame. They’re the ones who arranged this.’
Ross Kemp says the World Cup shouldn’t have been given to Qatar but it’s Fifa who is to blame (Picture: Getty Images)
Ross Kemp has given his two cents on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saying the event should never have been played there.
However, he says that now the tournament is underway, we have to respect the country’s rules and it is Fifa who is to blame for subjecting people to it.
The former EastEnders star, 58, is renowned for being a major sports fan, regularly entertaining fans on social media with his reaction to match results – particularly in recent days amid the start of the World Cup.
But no matter how avid a football fan you are, it’s impossible to ignore the conversation around Qatar hosting the tournament.
Human rights abuses, homosexuality being illegal, and reports of thousands of migrant workers dying while building the infrastructure for the cup have been high in the topics of conversation around the 2022 event.
Now Kemp, speaking to Metro.co.uk, says he doesn’t think the tournament should have been played in Qatar but it’s ‘too late.’
There has been a huge backlash globally to the World Cup being held in Qatar (Picture: Mega Agency)
‘I personally don’t think the World Cup should have been played there. But it’s too late,’ he said.
‘I also sadly have to respect… when I’m working in a country and it’s a dry country I don’t drink. It doesn’t mean I agree in any way shape or form with the persecution of the LGBTQ+ community at all, I do not.
‘But I think Fifa are the people to blame. They’re the ones who arranged this.
‘I say Fifa have to look hard in the mirror about why they chose [Qatar] for lots of reasons. Not only for the human rights issue but also the issue of changing the entire football schedule around the world.
‘And I know [footballers] are very well paid but they do work for a living and they are going to be working a lot longer hours because they’re at the World Cup. People involved in football are working much longer hours around the world.’
The avid sports fan is updating fans on World Cup results on Twitter, and also recently attended a rugby match at Twickenham where he voiced his support for a biodegradable plastic cup he hopes will be brought into other sport venues around the world (Picture: Lyfecycle)
Kemp is renowned for documentary-making since leaving the soap world, having faced the Taliban, Somali pirates and been in actual war zones for his Extreme World series.
When asked if the controversy around Qatar being given the World Cup would be something he could be interesting in covering for a documentary, Kemp admits ‘I think that ship has sailed.’
He revealed he made an application to make a documentary around it at the time, ‘but no one wanted me to be involved.’
‘That’s the way it works in my game. You see things coming up and you make applications for documentaries on the subject to be broadcast.’
The German football team covered their mouths in protest before their game against Japan (Picture: Shutterstock)
Kemp said he had made an application to do a documentary on the Qatar controversy but it didn’t go ahead (Picture: Getty Images)
He explained that sometimes the broadcaster simply isn’t interested, but other times ‘it’s the idea you’ve given to the broadcaster with someone totally different presenting it.
‘That happened to me recently,’ he said cryptically before adding: ‘I’m not saying what.’
As for upcoming documentaries, Kemp admits plastic pollution is a real ‘passion’ of his and would be interested in delving into it more with a documentary.
The star has recently teamed up with company Lyfecycle, which has developed a biodegradable or ‘self-destructing’ plastic, a technology he says could be ‘globe-changing.’
He told Metro.co.uk about his disgust when filming season two of Shipwreck Treasure Hunter, which saw him dive off the coast of the UK and where he saw animals wrapped in plastic.
‘You might see it washed up on the beach but that is a fraction of what is in our oceans. Only recently, diving off Lundy, I saw a seal with plastic wrapped around one of its fins.
The documentary-maker recently spoke of his disgust at seeing animals wrapped in plastic as he filmed off the UK coast for Shipwreck Treasure Hunter (Picture: AETN)
‘I saw a cormorant moving past me when I was 25 metres deep, and it had plastic around its neck. The amount of times I’ve been out on small boats and we’ve had to stop because there’s plastic around the propellor.’
Elsewhere, Kemp is preparing for the new season of his game show Bridge of Lies, which will include eight celebrity specials.
The TV gameshow world is a branch away from documentary-making – a career for which Kemp has won a Bafta.
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But as he puts it: ‘I really enjoy doing it, it couldn’t be more different than being shot at in a bunker by Isis.’
‘I get to meet nice members of the public or I just have a laugh. It doesn’t all have to be misery,’ he said.
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