Richard Madeley baffled by BBC and ITV’s decision to not air Qatar World Cup opening ceremony

Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley expressed his confusion on Monday’s programme over the BBC and ITV not airing the Qatar World Cup opening ceremony on its main channels.

The international tournament kicked off on Sunday night with a glistening opener, which included a performance from BTS star Jungkook, as well as a surprise appearance from Morgan Freeman.

The star-studded scenes, however, were only available to watch on the red button, BBC iPlayer, and on the BBC Sport website, and not on the network’s main channels.

Many were up in arms over the decision from the BBC, including Piers Morgan, who branded it ‘outrageously disrespectful to Qatar’.

Madeley was among those joining the furore and said on Monday’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I wonder why they did that. I thought that was a bad decision.

Caption: Richard Madeley makes swipe at BBC amid centenary
(Picture:REX/ITV/BBC)

‘If you’re going to go and you’re going to cover it with qualification and commentary about the situation you’re in, you’d surely show the opening ceremony. It’s an odd political decision.’

A BBC spokesperson previously told Metro.co.uk: ‘Full build up and coverage of the World Cup has been available across the BBC, including the opening ceremony on iPlayer.’

Qatar was awarded the tournament in 2010 under much criticism and the competition is being played in winter for the first time, with summer temperatures in the gulf state too high for players to play in.

The country is three times smaller than Northern Ireland and reports claim thousands of migrant workers were killed during the building of the stadia, which didn’t exist a decade ago. Qatar have denied this.

The FIFA World Cup kicked off on Sunday night (Picture: Reuters)

Qatar played Ecuador in the opening game of the tournament (Picture: Reuters)

Homosexuality is also illegal in the country, and women’s rights are severely limited.

In his opening monologue for the BBC’s coverage of the tournament, Gary Lineker vowed to tackle the wider issues of holding the tournament in Qatar.

‘It’s the most controversial World Cup in history and a ball hasn’t even been kicked,’ he said

‘Ever since FIFA chose Qatar back in 2010, the smallest nation to have hosted football’s greatest competition has faced some big questions.

 ‘From accusations of corruption in the bidding process to the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums where many lost their lives.

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‘Homosexuality is illegal here, women’s rights and freedom of expression are in the spotlight. Also the decision six years ago to switch the World Cup from summer to winter.

‘Against that backdrop there’s a tournament to be played, one that will be watched and enjoyed around the world. Stick to football say FIFA, well, we will, for a couple of minutes at least.’

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.

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The World Cup 2022 kicked off on Sunday night.