Gary Lineker has criticised James Cleverly after the Foreign Secretary suggested LGBT football fans attending the World Cup in Qatar should show “compromise” and respect the country’s ban on homosexuality.
Mr Cleverly urged fans to show “a little bit of flex and compromise” and to “respect the culture” of the host nation, where homosexuality remains a crime, prompting criticism from campaigners including Peter Tatchell.
Responding to his comments on Twitter, Match Of The Day presenter Lineker, 61, wrote: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?”
His comments came less than two weeks after the BBC found he had breached its impartiality rules over a tweet he made in February about the Conservative Party having “Russian donors”.
The Foreign Secretary attracted criticism on Wednesday after he called for fans to show “a little bit of flex and compromise” during the tournament.
He told LBC radio: “[Qatari authorities] want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure and enjoy themselves, and they know that that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own.
“One of the things I would say for football fans is, you know, please do be respectful of the host nation.
“They are trying to ensure that people can be themselves and enjoy the football, and I think with a little bit of flex and compromise at both ends, it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.”
Peter Tatchell has hit back against Mr Cleverly’s advice and said going to the event is “colluding with a homophobic, sexist and racist regime”.
The veteran campaigner, who was questioned by Qatar police after staging an LGBT rights protest in the country, said: “The UK Government must use its public voice to condemn the appalling human rights abuses carried out daily by the Qatari regime.
“Unless we all speak out, Qatar will have achieved its goal of sports washing its appalling reputation during the World Cup. Mr Cleverly has an opportunity to highlight the abuses being carried out by the regime.
“All fans, not just LGBTs, should boycott the World Cup and use their social media to amplify the shocking human rights abuses by the Qatari state.”
Three Lions Pride, a group for LGBT+ England fans, tweeted: “To insinuate that an acceptable and proportionate safety measure is to ‘be less queer’ forces us back into the closet and risks mental health crises.
“It also is not an option for everyone. Some trans and gender diverse fans don’t have the option of ‘being less visibly queer’.
They added: “We’ve sought answers, assurances and details numerous times over recent years and this PR line of a “World Cup for all” is not backed by action.
“For a UK minister to step in and endorse it as a legitimate aim undermines our work and our conversations. *AND* that’s before we even get on to the situation for LGBT+ Qataris who under Penal Code 2004 can be arrested, and under Sharia Law can face the death penalty.”
Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: “This is shockingly tone deaf from James Cleverly. Sport should be open to all. Many fans will feel they can’t attend this tournament to cheer on their team because of Qatar’s record on human, workers, and LGBT+ rights.
“The Government should be challenging FIFA on how they’ve put fans in this position, and ensuring the full safety of all fans attending, not defending discriminatory values.”
During the World Cup in Russia LGBT+ fans were warned against holding hands, and publicly displaying their sexuality. Trans people were warned to either bring someone to the toilets with them, or use disabled ones.
