Gary Neville received a record number of OFCOM complaints during World Cup final

Gary Neville received a record amount of complaints for his punditry during the World Cup final, after using his platform to speak out.

Neville has often split opinion, both as a footballer and a pundit, and was on the end of plenty of criticism ahead of his work in Qatar.

That's because he signed on to work with the country's state owned media company beIN Sport, as well as working for his usual terrestrial broadcaster, ITV.

The former Manchester United defender claimed he was going to be highlighting the issues in Qatar whilst there, as he had in the past.

However, despite those claims he was still roundly criticised, even being torn to shreds when hosting comedy news quiz 'Have I Got News For You.'

Part way through the tournament in the Middle East, Neville turned his attention back to the British media, criticising them for concentrating on the negatives.

And then during the final, Neville was once again asked about the tournament being held in Qatar, with the 47-year-old speaking about workers' rights.

His words then turned to the problems in Britain right now, workers' rights in his home country and those who are currently striking.

That hasn't gone down too well, with 605 complaints to Ofcom, over the 'politicised comments,' making it the most complained about a sports broadcast in 2022.

Neville joined Labour leader Keir Starmer during the party's autumn conference. Image: Alamy

The final joins a top 10 list that includes three examples from the summer's latest edition of Love Island, which is also shown on ITV channels.

The reality dating show was complained about for bullying and misogyny, two things that it appears to have to deal with on a yearly basis.

ITV are also on the list for the amount of objection against Matt Hancock's appearance on I'm A Celebrity earlier this year.

"We should detest low pay, we should detest poor accommodation and poor working conditions and that is something we can never ever accept, in this region or any other region," Neville said ahead of the final.

"It is just worth mentioning that we have a current government in our country who are demonising rail workers, ambulance workers and, terrifyingly, nurses.

Neville often speaks his mind, whether it's political or not, when on punditry. Image: Alamy

"So, in our country, we have to look at workers rights, but certainly where football goes now, we have to make sure we pick up on worker’s right wherever it goes, because people have to be equal and treated equal.

"We can’t have people being paid an absolute pittance to work, we can’t have people in accommodation that is unsavoury and disgusting – we can’t have that.

"That shouldn’t happen here with the wealth that exists and it shouldn’t happen in our country that our nurses are having to fight for an extra pound or two pounds either."

Topics: Gary Neville, Football World Cup, Qatar

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28