05 October 2023 , 08:33
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The director of David Beckham 's documentary has insisted that his views on Qatar felt 'too dated' to be included in the series... despite his ongoing £125million deal with the Middle East state.
The documentary is now streaming on Netflix and follows the star's life from his breakthrough at Manchester United to superstardom at Real Madrid and the end of his career at LA Galaxy. A series of candid interviews are the basis for the show, mixed in with footage from the time.
But curiously, the documentary does not feature any discussion of the Qatar World Cup, which Beckham was an ambassador for. The England icon came in for intense criticism for that move though, with many in the LGBT+ community insisting he had turned his back on them.
Beckham was famously the first-ever Premier League star to appear on the cover of Attitude, an LGBT+ magazine. But he then opted to become an ambassador for a country where LGBT+ people are alleged to be hunted, arrested and beaten by security forces.
The former United star has mostly remained tight-lipped on that criticism, and curiously he does not talk of Qatar in the new documentary. But now the series' director has insisted that the World Cup was no longer relevant.
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“It just felt kind of dated. Honestly, if I had another episode, we could have gotten into that. But it just didn’t feel as relevant. When you’re talking about a guy’s 48 years, that was [just] a moment,” Fisher Stevens told The Independent.
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David Beckham's documentary does not feature any discussion of the Qatar World Cup (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)Beckham has spoken of his links with Qatar in interviews, insisting that no LGBT+ people told him they had problems in the country. He claimed he had done 'lots of research' into the Middle East state.
"I do a lot of research into partners that I’m going into business with. And I wanted to be involved in another World Cup. I like to see the game grow, and that means it going into territories it hasn’t been in before," he told the Daily Telegraph last week.
"I knew there’d be questions, I knew there was going to be criticism, but I’ve always been a believer that football is such a powerful tool. I knew that once the World Cup started, not that it would go away, but it was all then about how people were treated, how people weren’t excluded, what an experience the World Cup would be.
"I spent a month out there, and not one person came up to me and said, 'Oh my God, I’ve been treated like this, oh my God, I wasn’t allowed into this place…' I was around the LGBTQ community, I spoke to people on the ground. So I was happy with my decision."
Beckham's claims do not stand up to scrutiny though, with plenty of evidence of Qatar's oppressive stance towards LGBT+ people even during the World Cup. Many had rainbow items confiscated, including Wales fans and late journalist Grant Wahl.
The former Madrid star also faced a backlash at home, with Attitude removing copies of the magazine featuring him from its office. And comedian Joe Lycett 'shredded' £10,000 after Beckham failed to respond to his calls to speak out on Qatar's persecution of the LGBT+ community.