FORMER footballer Gavin Peacock says there has been ‘too much virtue signalling’ at the World Cup.
Speaking to GB News the ex Chelsea and Newcastle star said: “Number one, I don’t think the World Cup should be being played in Qatar, because it’s splitting the season apart for too many countries on that level alone.
“So that’s very disturbing. If you’re going to host it then you need to be able to host it at the right time of the year.
“In terms of the human rights situation and their particular beliefs, there are spheres of sovereignty. And if you’re going to another country, you have to respect those particular customs, and so on. So, my particular take is there should be a certain respect of any fans that are going there of particular customs, such as the alcohol issue. There’s been a lot of virtue signalling going on. And I think too much so with the taking of the knee and, and the armbands, and so on.
“I think the footballers should get on with playing football and shouldn’t be used as pawns in it or actually making their own particular statements. And I’ve spoken to enough fans that have gone there, and they just want to see the game played. You know, the other side is actually detracting from it.”
Peacock’s comments come a day after a Tory MP blasted the way the BBC were covering the tournament.
Julian Knight, the chair of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee said: “It’s boring, that’s the problem with it.
“Viewers, they’ve been lectured to, aren’t they? I mean, one that got my goat and I think got some of my constituents goats was the other day when they broke up half-time coverage to talk about the environment and climate change, etc.
“Obviously, a very serious issue but I watch the news for that. And it was a very strange three-minute section that was presented with all these sorts of facts, supposed facts…
“It was a very strange sort of one-sided, entirely sort of out of kilter. And really, frankly, I think people just want the BBC to get on with showing the football rather than, frankly, giving them a lecture.”
In an interview with Philip Davies and Esther McVey on GB News, he said: “I think basically Gary Lineker writes his own rules.
“When the director general of the BBC said that he needed to pull his horns and he just made fun of him…
“How much carbon offsetting is sort of done by the BBC for all the hot air emitting from Gary Lineker, on political issues?
“He loves to venture off on all sorts of areas often [from a ] very…ill informed, woke viewpoint, when actually, the truth of matter is that he’s paid to present football matches and maybe perhaps here, so maybe he and some of his colleagues should just stick to it.”
On the BBC not showing the opening ceremony, he said: “I have a slightly jaundiced viewpoint. We don’t need ceremonies, the only decent one was the one that we did before the Olympics in 2012…
“If they’ve got such a worry about the environment, then how much emissions were used by BBC presenters and reporters getting out to Qatar? I presume they didn’t walk.
“So what are they doing about it? How are they actually doing their bit, so to speak, rather, frankly, than wagging their finger at the rest of us?
He added: “It’s such a big organisation with so many different parts to it, that there doesn’t seem to be monitoring of actual output, generally. So you end up with these sort of flights of fancy that go on from different departments…this is actually for news for news journalists.
“This is for people who were experts in the area, maybe to look at, rather than dragging someone who’s come in five minutes before, for us to understand the issues in the round. And I think that’s the real issue with the BBC , that they’re almost too big, and they’re trying too much.”
