Piers Morgan has slammed the BBC for choosing not to broadcast the opening ceremony of the Qatar World Cup.
Instead of airing the extravagant show which preceded Ecuador's victory over the hosts on Sunday evening, presenter Gary Lineker opened the coverage of the tournament on BBC One with a monologue about the many human rights issues in the Middle Eastern nation. The opening ceremony was available to watch on iPlayer, but the broadcaster's principal coverage focussed on how Qatar was awarded the World Cup and the country's treatment of migrant workers and the LGBT+ community.
Pundit Alex Scott also delivered an impassioned message when asked why she is not boycotting the tournament. Morgan was livid with the BBC's decision to snub the opening ceremony and accused the broadcaster of "absurd hypocrisy".
He wrote on Twitter : "Outrageously disrespectful to Qatar that the BBC didn't broadcast the World Cup opening ceremony, and instead put out more virtue-signalling guff about how awful it is. If they're that appalled, they should bring home their vast army of employees & spare us this absurd hypocrisy."
Another social media user replied to Morgan's tweet and vowed to "disrespect Qatar every day of the week", prompting the 57-year-old to respond: "You can do what you like, I'm not obligated to pay a licence fee for your output."
Morgan's furious response came after Lineker's powerful opening comments on BBC One. The Match of the Day host said: "It's the most controversial World Cup in history and a ball hasn't been kicked. Ever since FIFA chose Qatar back in 2010, the smallest nation to have hosted football's greatest competition has faced some big questions.
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"From accusations of corruption in the bidding process to the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums, where many lost their lives. Homosexuality is illegal here, women's rights and freedom of expression are in the spotlight, also the decision six years ago to switch the World Cup from summer to winter."
Scott, meanwhile, took aim at Gianni Infantino after the FIFA president wrote to all 32 nations taking part in the World Cup to urge them to focus on football. The former Arsenal defender said: "To keep saying football is for everyone, that's what you [Infantino] keep feeding us with.
"We sit here and it's not, because people have not been able to travel to watch their teams, to support their teams, so you can't say football is for everyone. I've had conversations about, 'I should be staying at home, I should be boycotting', and I thought long and hard about it. I think that for me, personally, would have been the easy option."
