Joe Lycett has criticised the Football Association, accusing it of only ‘pretending to be allies of the LGBT+ community’.
The comedian, 34, had harsh words for the governing body after David Beckham didn’t pull out of his ambassadorial role for the 2022 World Cup.
The tournament, which concludes with the final this Sunday (December 18), was hosted by Qatar, where homosexuality is still illegal.
Lycett promised to destroy £10,000 of his own money if former England player Beckham, 47, didn’t resign from his ambassador position.
After he performed the stunt, it was revealed that Lycett hadn’t actually shredded real cash – he’d instead donated £10,000 to LGBT+ charities.
Speaking to Times Radio, he revealed that he had tried to get hold of Beckham’s number in order to speak to him, but got nowhere.
‘I was trying to get hold of his number that week, just see if I could just ring him. But some people get so famous that they don’t actually have a number.’
It was then that Lycett described Beckham as a ‘perfect emblem’ for brands who ‘pretend to be allies of the LGBT community until it’s inconvenient for them.’
He continued: ‘I would add the FA into that group. I had some conversations… they directed me to their statement about the One Love armband. We know where we got to with that, don’t we?’
At the start of the World Cup, both the England and Welsh men’s teams announced they would wear the anti-discrimination One Love armbands.
However, when they were threatened with sporting sanctions by FIFA, both FAs walked back on their initial plans to the disappointment of many.
Lycett said: ‘I won’t attack any of the footballers and all that because actually they might never get to do a World Cup again and it’s their careers.’
‘I think fair play to them. They’re in a really tricky situation and I’m sure they’ve all got individual opinions on it.’
Last week, Lycett appeared on Lorraine and explained that he wanted to convince David Beckham to speak out and spark a change in Qatar’s laws.
‘I thought I might be able to convince him to change his mind and then that might convince the Qataris to change.’
