The Athletic - Explained: David Beckham, ambassador for Qatar

There were two iconic British sportsmen at last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.

Both were there as part of their professional obligations, using their respective platforms, performing their roles to perfection and doing everything their employers might have asked of them.

Lewis Hamilton was one of them. He won the race, dominating the rest of the field in his Mercedes, finishing more than 25 seconds ahead of his rival for the Formula One Championship, Max Verstappen. He did so while wearing a rainbow crash helmet in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, which was described as “an incredible act of allyship” by Richard Morris, co-founder of Racing Pride. Hamilton tweeted pictures of him wearing the helmet, along with the message, “We stand together.”

David Beckham was the other. He was immaculately turned out in a blazer and slacks, shaking hands and kissing cheeks, visiting and inspecting the Qatari government’s various charitable initiatives, providing handsome content and generally performing the role of David Beckham to perfection.

He was there as part of his new role as ambassador for Qatar, designed initially to promote and polish the image of the 2022 World Cup, but later to sell the idea of Qatar more generally. It’s quite a reverse from Beckham being at the forefront of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, a bid that was humiliated at the same time Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament.

One view would be that this was two different men attempting to affect change in Qatar in their own way. One via overt advocacy and allyship, the other through the softly-softly harnessing of fame and influence.

From Beckham’s perspective, he will be keen to stress that he is not just walking into this blindly. He believes that, even since he first got to know Al-Khelaifi and Al-Thawadi, things have improved in Qatar.

Beckham believes he has done his own due diligence by getting to know the country’s leaders, and by visiting several times over the last decade.

“David has been visiting Qatar regularly for over a decade and went on to play for PSG so he has seen the passion for football in the country and the long-term commitment that’s been made to hosting the World Cup and delivering a lasting legacy for the region,” a spokesperson for Beckham tells The Athletic.

“He’s always talked about the power of football as a force for good on many levels.”

Ultimately, will his association with Qatar damage Brand Beckham in any material sense?

Probably not.

“How many World Cup sponsors have pulled out?” asks David Alexander, managing director of Calacus Sports PR agency. “How many sports clubs refuse to engage with sponsors from Russia or the Middle East or China if there is a commercial benefit to them?

“When you look at the names of some of those who have supported Qatar 2022, has it damaged their brands? Big names such as Xavi, now back at Barcelona, World Cup winner Cafu, Samuel Eto’o and Tim Cahill have all been signed as global ambassadors.

“The bid itself gained support from Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane, who will all have been made aware of previous human rights issues in Qatar.

“Barcelona, Bayern Munich and obviously PSG all have strong sponsorship or ownership connections to Qatar. How much have any of these reputations been damaged or impacted by their association with Qatar? I’d argue not a great deal, if at all.

“If images are shown around the world of Beckham in the royal box at the World Cup final, will his reputation suffer as a consequence? I highly doubt it.”

But commercial considerations are one thing. Beckham might be able to justify this partnership to himself, as either a business necessity or because he genuinely believes that he can be a force for good.

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