CNN —
A British comedian appeared to blast £10,000 ($11,000) in a video after receiving no response from David Beckham over his controversial role as Qatar World Cup ambassador.
On Sunday, Joe Lycett began tweeting an hourly countdown to his lunchtime deadline in the UK (7am ET). At 12pm GMT he posted a video of himself shredding the money on www.benderslikebeckham.com, a website to which Lycett had tweeted links.
He later posted it on his social media accounts with the caption “a platform for progress,” likely a reference to what the soccer star said in a pre-recorded message at the Qatar Supreme Committee’s Generation Amazing youth festival in Doha, where he these words were used to describe this year’s World Cup.
On November 13, Lycett, who describes himself as queer on his website, posted a video on Twitter saying he would donate £10,000 to charities that support “queer people in football” or that the money would be shared with “Beckhams Reputation as a gay icon” if the former England captain does not sever ties with Qatar within a week. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and can be punished with up to three years in prison.
Beckham didn’t respond and in the Video Lycett, who was posted to his Twitter feed on Sunday, appeared to be dumping a pile of money into an industrial paper shredder while wearing a rainbow-colored top.
Then he curtseyed for the camera and walked away. The comedian didn’t immediately respond to CNN when asked if he shredded real money.
Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy recently told CNN that the 2022 World Cup will be “an inclusive, safe tournament” and said “everyone is welcome regardless of race, background, religion, gender, orientation or nationality” .
Earlier this week, world football’s governing body FIFA referred CNN to the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy for all comments on Lycett’s criticism of Beckham and Qatar.
Beckham, who was contacted by CNN through his reps on Nov. 14, declined to comment on the criticism of his ambassadorship. CNN reached out to its representatives after Lycett appeared to have wiped money, but received no response as of publication.
“Qatar dreamed of taking the World Cup to a place it had never been before, but that just achieving something on the pitch wouldn’t be enough,” Beckham said at the youth festival. “The pitch would be a platform for progress.
“Dreams can come true. That’s why you’re here. You share Generation Amazing’s dual passion for the game of football and for making the world a more tolerant and inclusive place.”
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in October documented alleged incidents of beatings and sexual harassment during detention. According to victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch, security forces allegedly forced transgender women to attend conversion therapy sessions at a government-funded “behavioral medicine” center.
“The Qatari authorities must end impunity for violence against LGBT people. The world is watching,” said Rasha Younes of Human Rights Watch.
A Qatari official told CNN that HRW’s allegations “contain information that is categorically and unequivocally false.”
However, Lycett took aim at Beckham.
“You are the first Premiership footballer to do some filming with gay magazines like Attitude to speak openly about his gay fans,” Lycett said in last week’s video message.
“It’s now 2022. And you’ve reportedly signed a £10m deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup.”
“If you don’t, I’m going to throw that money in a shredder and stream it live on a site I’ve registered called benderslikebeckham.com until next Sunday noon just before the World Cup opening ceremony.”
Lycett isn’t the first person or group to criticize Beckham for his ambassadorship.
Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo, who came out as gay last year, told CNN Sport he would like Beckham to use his platform to support the LGBTQ community rather than promote the Qatar government .
“If someone like David Beckham comes around with his platform around us and becomes an ally that we want, that’s really helpful.
“If he could take that next step and show the LGBTQ community what he means, that would be amazing.”