The Socceroos have been accused of hypocrisy by British television personality Piers Morgan after their protest message to Qatar ahead of 2022 World Cup.
Australia became one of the first World Cup-bound nations to speak out against Qatar's same-sex relationships laws and treatment of migrant workers ahead of next month's tournament.
Via a video produced through Professional Footballers Australia, 16 Socceroos players called for Qatar to legalise same-sex marriage and improve the rights for migrants in the Persian Gulf nation.
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However, Morgan - who made a name for himself as host of Good Morning Britain - labelled the stance by Australia as 'hypocritical' because they were still playing in the World Cup.
"Fine virtue-signalling words… presume you will now be boycotting the tournament? Or don’t you guys care THAT much?" Morgan tweeted.
"Either go and play football, or don’t go. Pretending you’re outraged by a country’s morality but then actively promoting the country is hypocritical.
"I find the faux moral outrage around ‘sports-washing’ increasingly irritating. If you want to make a moral stand, fine - do it properly & boycott the event/country that offends your morality. Or shut up and play sport."
Qatar also responded to the Australian message with a statement from their Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
"We commend footballers using their platforms to raise awareness for important matters," the statement read.
"We have committed every effort to ensure that this World Cup has had a transformative impact on improving lives, especially for those involved in constructing the competition and non-competition venues we’re responsible for.
"Protecting the health, safety, security, and dignity of every worker contributing to this World Cup is our priority.
"This is achieved through our commitment to holding contractors accountable via our worker welfare standards, continuous work on enhancing health and safety practices, creating and developing worker representation forums in collaboration with international unions and experts, robust auditing that includes an independent third party monitor, working with contractors to ensure workers who paid recruitment fees are entitled to repayment, and ensuring that these policies lead to a change in work culture that lasts far beyond 2022."
A message from our @Socceroos on the @FIFAWorldCup #SupportingThePlayers pic.twitter.com/bUqW2pne1w
— Professional Footballers Australia (@thepfa) October 26, 2022
The 16 Socceroos players to contribute to the video were captain Maty Ryan, Bailey Wright, Jamie Maclaren, Nick D’Agostino, Jackson Irvine, Craig Goodwin, Danny Vukovic, Andrew Redmayne, Mathew Leckie, Mitchell Duke, Mitch Langerak, Denis Genreau, Cameron Devlin, Adam Taggart, Kye Rowles and Alex Wilkinson.
"We stand with FIFPro, the Building and Wood Workers International, and the International Trade Union Confederation, seeking to embed reforms and establish a lasting legacy in Qatar," the players said in the video.
"This must include establishing a migrant resource centre, effective remedy for those who have been denied their rights, and the decriminalisation of all same-sex relationships.
"These are the basic rights that should be afforded to all and will ensure continued progress in Qatar - a legacy that goes well beyond the final whistle of the 2022 FIFA World Cup."
The Qatari government does not recognise same-sex marriages and doesn't permit protests within the country about the issue.
According to the Qatari government, there were 37 deaths among workers at World Cup stadium construction sites between 2014 and 2020. However, other sources disagree that this number is accurate.
A Guardian report from February 2021, citing records from national embassies, claimed that more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar by the time of its report, since the Gulf nation was awarded the World Cup hosting rights in 2010.
