Ofcom has completed its assessment of complaints we received about Gary Neville’s comments during ITV’s coverage of the World Cup Final, on 18 December 2022.
705 viewers complained to Ofcom about the comments, which compared concerns regarding the human rights of workers at the Qatar World Cup with ongoing industrial disputes in the UK.
We considered these complaints against our broadcasting rules. In our view, the live, brief and unscripted remarks about industrial relations in the UK came amidst a wider discussion about the policies and actions of the Qatari Government, which gave due weight to a range of views. So, we will not be pursuing these complaints further.
However, we have issued guidance to ITV reminding them of their due impartiality obligations. ITV has assured us that presenters and studio guests will be reminded of these rules.