Qatar World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi has accused BBC pundit Jurgen Klinsmann of making ‘racist’ remarks against Iran and has taken aim at Gary Lineker.
German legend Klinsmann caused a storm of controversy with his comments about Iran ‘working the referee’ after they beat Wales 2-0 on Friday to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
In his post-match analysis, Klinsmann said: ‘It is not be coincidence, it is part of their culture, how they play.
‘They worked the referee. They work the linesman and fourth official, they are constantly in their ear. There were a lot of incidents we didn’t see.
‘This is their culture, they take you off your game.’
Qatar’s World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi has criticised BBC pundit Jurgen Klinsmann for his comments about Iran ‘working the referee’ during their match against Wales
Iran claimed a vital 2-0 win in their second group game to keep World Cup hopes alive
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz was left enraged and demanded Klinsmann step down from FIFA’s Qatar 2022 Technical Study Group.
Klinsmann has sought to clarify what he meant by his remarks and defuse the situation to ‘calm things down’. But not before Al-Thawadi also launched his own criticism.
‘The Iran vs Wales game. Iran played very good. They were the better team,’ Al-Thawadi told talkSPORT.
‘And yet the coverage that we saw on BBC by Jurgen Klinsmann talking about their culture and reflecting the players in a way that was…. I don’t like using the word, I will use it only once because I don’t want to give power to the world, it was very elitist, orientalist and racist to a certain extent.
‘I’ll say it this way: you look at what is happening and you say it is part of their culture, what do you mean by that?
‘Are you saying it was misunderstood? He was representing a culture in a negative way.’
After the Iran vs Wales match, former Germany striker Klinsmann said the Iranians were ‘constantly in the ear’ of their officials
Klinsmann had claimed that Iran have learned to ‘work the referee’ under Carlos Queiroz
Al-Thawadi also hit out at BBC presenter Lineker, who has spoken out against Qatar’s human rights – notably the criminalisation of same-sex relationships – and the treatment of the migrant workers who built stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament.
Al-Thawadi, the secretary general for the World Cup Supreme Committee, claimed Lineker had declined to ‘engage’ with tournament officials.
He said: ‘The most important element about this is breaking down misconceptions and stereotypes that people have – which means they need to engage.
‘The reason is because it is a platform that gives you the opportunity to engage. People like Roy [Keane] and Gary [Lineker], or whoever else, there was no engagement.
Queiroz has defended his team, issuing a stinging rebuttal in an open letter on Twitter
Queiroz said the comments were a disgrace to soccer but invited Klinsmann to the Iran camp
The coach added he expected Klinsmann to resign from the Qatar 2022 Technical Study Group
‘For me, Gary Lineker, I looked up to him growing up. When I was in Sheffield, I watched ‘They Think It’s all Over’. I used to love it, the banter, the sense of humour.
‘So it was very disappointing that he never bothered to engage. We reached out many times.
‘The latest was in February, we reached out three or four times, requesting specifically to sit down with Gary to say, ‘We respect your position, give us the opportunity to put our case in front.’
‘At least hear us out. If you don’t agree then, that’s fine, that’s your decision, and that’s your judgement. But we never got the chance.
‘I was disappointed there was never the desire to listen to our part of the story.’
Lineker denied there had ever been any contact from the organisers in a tweet: ‘Well, this is news to me. Neither my agent nor myself received any request to engage with anyone involved with Qatar 2022. I have my weaknesses, but I’m not that rude. Very odd.’
Gary Lineker was also criticised by Al-Thawadi, who claimed officials from Qatar tried to reach out to the BBC presenter earlier this year
Lineker replied on Twitter, denying there had been any attempt by organisers to ‘engage’
Al-Thawadi was also unhappy at the BBC’s coverage of the first game between Qatar and Ecuador on November 20, which put coverage of the opening ceremony on the red button before Lineker started the broadcast by criticising Qatar.
‘The way Gary Lineker took three minutes… they never bothered to do that with any other tournament,’ he said.
‘They never bothered to listen to the other side or at least present a balanced view to be able to sit down and move forward.
‘There are definitely agendas that are presented very clearly that are beyond football. I want it to be about football and the fans.’
Klinsmann tried to bury the hatchet with Iran in a tweet on Monday.
He said: ‘My comments on the Wales v Iran game were purely football related. Unfortunately, this was taken out of a footballing context.
‘I have many Iranian friends and was always full of compliments for their people, culture, and history. I wish them only the best for the tournament.’
Klinsmann has attempted to defuse the controversy, saying he has no disrespect for Iran
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