Robbie Williams Accuses Musicians Who Protest Qatar Of Insincerity

While many names refused the offer to take the stage for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, we will still see some stars perform at the opening ceremony. Among other names like Diplo, Sean Paul, and Calvin Harris, Robbie Williams was also announced as a performer. Although this caused controversy, Williams defended himself as he spoke to the Italian newspaper il Venerdi and launched a counter-attack.

Unlike Rod Stewart, who argued it was wrong to perform there, Robbie Williams accepted the offer to sing at the ceremonies and closed his ears to the criticisms. It’s not surprising that this decision caused controversy, even among his fans. However, the 48-year-old star recently said he stands by his decision, slamming those who criticized him instead.

“Anybody leaving messages saying ‘no to Qatar’ are doing so on Chinese technology,” said Robbie Williams to the artists who refused to perform in Qatar. “You get this microscope that goes, ‘Okay, these are the baddies, and we need to rally against them.’ I think the hypocrisy there is that if we take that case in this place, we need to apply that unilaterally to the world. Then if we apply that unilaterally to the world, nobody can go anywhere.”

Williams added, “It would be hypocritical of me not to go because of the places that I do go to. I also think that change will take a long time. What we’re saying is: ‘You behave like us, or we will annex you from society. Behave like us because we’ve got it right.’ Of course, I don’t condone any abuses of human rights anywhere. But, that being said, if we’re not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, it would be the shortest tour the world has ever known: I wouldn’t even be able to perform in my own kitchen.”

FIFA has been harshly criticized for hosting the world cup in Qatar. There are various reasons for this, such as the deaths of migrant workers during the construction of stadiums, poor labor laws, and the country’s views on same-sex relationships. As a result, many artists didn’t want to be a part of the opening ceremony as they believed it was not right to perform in a country that disrespects human rights.

However, Robbie Williams believes that artists couldn’t perform in any country if they took human rights abuses into account. Moreover, he argued that those who refused to take the stage in the Gulf State are hypocrites who don’t apply this to every country they visit during tours.