02/01/2023
Legendary England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has suggested "every football tournament should be in the Middle East" after he attended the Qatar World Cup.
Pietersen took to Instagram to post a clip of fans outside one of Qatar's stadiums after the tournament ended with Argentina lifting the trophy, having beaten France on penalties in what was perhaps the greatest-ever World Cup final.
In his post, Pietersen contrasted the scenes in his clip with the chaos experienced at last year's European Championship when thousands of ticketless fans gained entry to Wembley for the final between England and Italy, with an independent report later describing it as "an appalling scene of disorder."
Pietersen described those scenes as a "disgrace" and said the Qatar World Cup was "on another level", claiming it could be enjoyed by everyone. He wrote: "A football tournament WITHOUT hooligans.
"Having been at that Wembley disgrace last year and now in Qatar, Qatar was so much better. On another level actually. Maybe every football tournament should be in the Middle East where the fan experience can be enjoyed by mums, dads, boys, girls - EVERYONE!
"Well done, Qatar! ps - pls don’t respond with any negativity to this post unless you were physically in Doha and experienced what many people did. Thanks."
