I’m boycotting the World Cup – does that make me a hypocrite?

I’m under no illusions that by simply skipping the pub and avoiding TV screens I’m taking any sort of real stand, writes Annabel Grossman

Clearly I have a Western superiority complex, since Qatar’s stance on LGBT+ rights makes me shudder (PA)

Choosing not to watch this World Cup is hardly an act of radical protest. Indeed, my own passive resistance has been passive in the extreme.

It’s true that normally I would never miss an England game, but given the controversies surrounding this tournament, it seemed a natural choice simply to switch off. I was vaguely surprised that so many of those who had shown moral outrage at migrant deaths and human rights abuses are now blithely screeching “it’s coming home”, but what has really struck me is how offended many people seem in my choice to give the whole thing a miss.

No matter which unpalatable angle of the tournament I take issue with – and there’s a pretty long list to choose from – it seems that I’m a raging hypocrite. Didn’t I happily watch Russia’s World Cup in 2018? Do I not want to take a long hard look at migrant worker rights in my own country? Aren’t I aware that there’s a good chance the natural gas that heats my home comes from Qatar?