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The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday – and it’s set to be the most controversial in the tournament’s history.

Concerns about corruption, migrant worker deaths and the country’s attitude towards LGBT+ fans have dogged the event before a ball has even been kicked.

And the timing of the tournament – with the final taking place a week before Christmas instead of the summer – has ensured it will be a World Cup like no other.

Here, Sky News looks at nine stories to watch out for at the event as the biggest stars in football gather in the Gulf state to compete for the famous trophy.

Will players protest?

While Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships – with homosexuality illegal in the country – along with its human rights record and treatment of migrant workers, World Cup organisers FIFA have urged teams to “focus on the football”.

Their plea, however, appears already to have been ignored and players are expected to raise awareness of human rights issues during the tournament.

England captain Harry Kane will wear a OneLove armband in support of the LGBT+ community, even if it is banned by FIFA and risks fines from football’s governing body.

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‘We won’t stop’ supporting Qatar workers

Wales captain Gareth Bale has also confirmed he will wear the armband, saying the players can “shed a light on the problems” in Qatar.

Before the tournament, Australia’s players released a video criticising the “suffering and harm of countless” migrant workers in Qatar after reports of deaths, ranging from a few dozen to several thousand, during preparations for the World Cup.

Read more: Why the Qatar World Cup is so controversial

Manchester United and Portugal star Bruno Fernandes has also voiced his displeasure at Qatar hosting the tournament.

He told Sky Sports: “We have seen the surroundings over the past few weeks and months, and about people who have died on the construction of the stadiums. We are not happy for that.”

How will LGBT+ fans be treated?

Concerns have been raised about the treatment of LGBT+ fans travelling to the World Cup in Qatar.

Just two weeks before the start of the event, an ambassador for the tournament, Khalid Salman, described homosexuality as “damage in the mind” while speaking to a German broadcaster, before the interview was immediately cut short by a press officer.

A report by Human Rights Watch warned that security forces in Qatar have arbitrarily arrested and abused LGBT+ Qataris as recently as September.

And last month, veteran LGBT+ activist and campaigner Peter Tatchell claimed he was “arrested” and stopped by police after he staged a protest in the Gulf state.

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‘Everybody’s welcome here’ – Qatar World Cup chief on gay fans

Qatar’s World Cup chief has insisted LGBT+ fans will not be discriminated against during the tournament, telling Sky News they can hold hands and are welcome to display affection and rainbow flags.

“All we ask is for people to be respectful of the culture,” Nasser Al Khater said.

However England LGBT+ supporters’ group, Three Lions Pride, says it will not be travelling to the World Cup over fears it could make the local gay community “vulnerable to systematic, institutional and potentially vigilante abuse”.

How will drunk fans be dealt with?

There have been questions over how boozy football supporters will be dealt with in Qatar, where it is illegal to be drunk in public.

The conservative Muslim country has had to open up more areas for the sale of alcohol – including outside stadiums and in fan zones – rather than it remaining restricted to hotel bars.

However Budweiser was forced to relocate stalls selling beer outside stadiums after Qatari rulers wanted alcohol to be less prominent.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preview - Lusail, Qatar - November 10, 2022 A man with a replica of the World Cup outside Lusail Stadium ahead of the World Cup REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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Qatar’s Lusail Stadium will host the World Cup final

Mr Al Khater told Sky News that drunk fans will be sent to special zones to sober up.

“There are plans in place for people to sober up if they’ve been drinking excessively,” he said.

“It’s a place to make sure that they keep themselves safe, they’re not harmful to anybody else.”

What role will David Beckham have at the tournament?

David Beckham attended the Doha Forum in March

The former England captain has been strongly criticised for agreeing to be an ambassador for Qatar to promote the World Cup, in a deal reportedly worth up to £150m.

Beckham had been hailed as a “gay icon”, having been the first footballer to appear on the front of Attitude magazine.

Three Lions Pride have expressed their disappointment with Beckham’s role with Qatar, while comedian Joe Lycett has threatened to shred £10,000 of his own money if the former midfielder does not end the deal.

It is unclear how prominent Beckham’s role will be at the tournament but having reportedly signed up to be “the face of the Qatar World Cup”, his appearance at the event is expected.

Can England end 56 years of hurt?

Harry Kane

Having reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia four years ago, and the final of Euro 2020, hopes are high for Gareth Southgate’s squad despite their poor form in recent matches.

England haven’t won their last six games but are fifth favourites to win the tournament, according to bookmakers, behind Spain, France, Argentina and favourites Brazil.

They will be hoping to end the 56-year wait since England’s last World Cup win in 1966.

The Three Lions’ first game against Iran kicks off on 21 November at 1pm UK time, before they play the USA on 25 November at 7pm and Wales on 29 November at 7pm.

How will Wales fare at their first World Cup in 64 years?

Gareth Bale

When Wales last competed at a World Cup in 1958, the team made it all the way to the quarter-finals before losing to Brazil by a single goal scored by star striker Pele.

Rob Page’s team will be hoping for a repeat of Wales’ successful run at Euro 2016, where they reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions Portugal.

Read more: Do Wales have a shot at World Cup victory?

Wales begin their World Cup campaign against the USA on 21 November at 7pm UK time, before playing Iran on 25 November at 10am and England on 29 November at 7pm.

Despite some bookmakers giving odds as high as around 400-1 for Wales to win the tournament, the country will be hoping actor Michael Sheen’s rousing motivational speech will inspire them to winning performances in Qatar.

Messi and Ronaldo’s last World Cup?

They are arguably the two greatest footballers in the history of the game but a World Cup win has so far evaded both players during their glittering careers.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are likely to be appearing at their last World Cup in Qatar, having both made their first appearances at the tournament in 2006.

Lionel Messi

Messi, now aged 35, has said that this will “surely” be his final World Cup as he captains Argentina in their bid for the trophy.

And while Portugal captain Ronaldo, now 37 years old, has voiced an ambition to play at Euro 2024, the 2026 World Cup may be a step too far for a player currently struggling to get into the Manchester United team.

Ronaldo training in Portugal on 14 November

What reaction will be there to Iran’s involvement?

With Russia banned from the World Cup over its invasion of Ukraine, there have been calls for Iran to be thrown out of the tournament after the country allegedly supplied weapons to aid Vladimir Putin’s attacks.

The Ukrainian football association asked FIFA to kick Iran out of the tournament over what it described as the country’s “systematic human rights violations” and “the possible involvement of Iran in the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine”.

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Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter also called for Iran to be excluded from the event in Qatar following widespread protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for alleged violations of the country’s strict dress code.

FIFA has not agreed to the calls to throw out Iran and they will play in a group against England, Wales and the USA.

Which new stars will emerge?

Jude Bellingham
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England’s Jude Bellingham is tipped to star at the World Cup

While this year’s World Cup will star some of the most famous footballers on the planet, including Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, the tournament usually sees lesser known stars establish themselves on the world stage.

England’s teenage midfielder Jude Bellingham is hotly tipped to be a potential breakout star in Qatar.

Aged just 19, Bellingham has already captained German side Borussia Dortmund and scored four goals in his first Champions League matches this season.

Barcelona’s teenage midfielder Gavi is also expected to have a big impact for Spain at this year’s World Cup.

The 18-year-old was awarded the Kopa trophy in October, which is given to the best player in the world under the age of 21.

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Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released

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Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace branded 'crude attempt to enrich himself' as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.

Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.

The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
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The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew

Pic: Pitch@Palace
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Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace

Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.

So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?

In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.

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The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.

Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.

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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?

Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.

But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.

Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.

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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…

“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.

Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.

He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.

He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.

“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”

We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.

With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.

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UK in talks with Brazil over ‘potential sale’ of two Royal Navy amphibious assault ships

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UK in talks with Brazil over 'potential sale' of two Royal Navy amphibious assault ships

The UK is in talks with Brazil over the “potential sale” of the Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault ships that are being ditched to cut costs, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Defence experts said the fact HMS Bulwark – which has only just received an expensive refit – and HMS Albion are being flogged off underlines the pressure on the defence budget even though Sir Keir Starmer keeps talking up his promises to boost expenditure.

The two warships can be used to deploy Royal Marines to shore – a vital capability at a time of growing global threats.

News of the possible sale was first revealed in Latin American media.

One report said the Royal Navy and Brazilian Navy had signed an agreement that would see the UK giving information to the Brazilians on the state of the two ships prior to any purchase.

Asked about the claim that the UK would sell the assault ships to Brazil, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm we have entered discussions with the Brazilian Navy over the potential sale of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion.

“As announced in November, both ships are being decommissioned from the Royal Navy. Neither were planned to go back to sea before their out of service dates in the 2030s.”

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James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, appeared to question the wisdom of the move.

“At Defence orals [House of Commons questions] on January 6th Defence Secretary John Healey said: ‘HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion were not genuine capabilities’,” Mr Cartlidge wrote in a post on social media.

“They’ve just been sold to Brazil.”

Matthew Savill, the director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute, said the plan to sell the vessels demonstrates there “is still life in both these ships”.

He said: “The fact that the UK is prepared to sell off useful amphibious capability – which could be used in evacuation operations or other cases where air transport is difficult – shows just how tight finances are even with the promised budget increase.

“The replacements for these ships are still several years away and won’t be available until the 2030s.”

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Mr Savill added: “As an aside, Brazil will probably have greater amphibious capacity than the UK, having previously bought HMS Ocean, the UK’s helicopter assault ship.”

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark entered service two decades ago.

Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively.

HMS Ocean, a helicopter-landing vessel and once the largest warship in the Royal Navy, was sold to the Brazilian Navy in 2018 after 20 years in service.

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Boy saved from burning car after M6 crash caused by suicidal ex-RAF pilot, inquest hears

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Boy saved from burning car after M6 crash caused by suicidal ex-RAF pilot, inquest hears

A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.

The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.

Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.

The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.

Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.

In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.

He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.

Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.

“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”

He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”

At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.

The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.

Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”

The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.

Jade McEnroe and son Arran. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
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Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary

Dominic and Filip Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
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Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary

In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.

Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.

On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.

Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.

After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.

Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
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Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary

Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.

She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.

Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.

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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.

She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.

He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.

She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.

“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”

Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.

She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.

Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.

Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.

The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”

Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

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