A British comedian is calling on football icon David Beckham to tear up his deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup, or he’ll shred £10,000 (NZ$19,000) in cash.
Joe Lycett made the demand in a video posted to Twitter overnight NZT.
In it he called on the footballer to ditch his multi-million dollar promotion deal with Qatar, or else he’d shred the money in a livestream in a week’s time, along with Beckham’s “status as a gay icon”.
Lycett has also registered a website for the campaign called benderslikebeckham. com.
“This is a message to David Beckham. I consider you, along with Kim Woodburn and Monty Don, to be a gay icon,” he said.
“You’ll be forcing me to commit a crime.
“You were the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans, and you married a Spice Girl which is the gayest thing a human being can do.
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If Beckham ends his promotional deal, Lycett has promised to donate the £10,000 to LGBTQIA+ charities.
Lycett has a history of similar stunts, having once legally changed his name to Hugo Boss to protest the brand sending cease-and-desist letters to businesses also using the word ‘boss’ in their names.
The rights of LGBTQIA+ people in Qatar has long been an issue, with fresh scrutiny ahead of the competition.
Recently, an ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar described homosexuality as “damage in the mind” in an interview with German television.
Former Qatari national team player Khalid Salman said that being gay is “haram”, or forbidden in Arabic, and that he has a problem with children seeing gay people..
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