The Farm block football anthem ‘All Together Now’ being used in Qatar World Cup advert

The Farm have said they have blocked their classic ’90s football anthem ‘All Together Now’ from being used in an advert linked to the Qatar world cup.

The Liverpudlians were interviewed by Kevin McManus in Liverpool last night at the launch of the British Music Experience’s temporary exhibition with the Official Charts Company to celebrate 70 years of the Official Singles Chart. While discussing the success of ‘All Together Now’ in the charts, lead singer Peter Hooton revealed that the band had prevented McDonalds from using the hit in an advert related to the Qatar world cup.

“People wanna use it, I mean, McDonalds wanted to use it for Qatar,” said Hooton, to the surprise of bandmate Keith Mullin, who had no idea this had happened.

“Look at him… shocked!” Hooton remarked. “But they’re not going to use it.”

“No, that wouldn’t be right,” Mullin added.

“You’ll see the advert and it’ll be people eating McDonald’s and watching footy, but there’ll be no music,” Hooton continued. “It’s too late for them to get anything else”.

FIFA’s decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been highly controversial. Homosexuality is still illegal in the nation, which has also faced allegations of mistreatment and forced labour of migrants. 6,500 workers reportedly died during the construction of the World Cup’s Khalifa Stadium.

Various artists have been critical of the World Cup, with Rod Stewart revealing earlier this week that he had turned down £1million to perform, saying “it’s not right”. Dua Lipa also denied rumours she was due to perform, calling on Qatar to fulfill the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the tournament. 

England manager Gareth Southgate has said that his players will speak out about human rights abuses in Qatar. “Regarding the LGBT community, we stand for inclusivity and we are very, very strong on that. We think that is important in terms of all our supporters,” he said in a press conference last week.

Earlier today, FIFA confirmed to The Times that possession of and sales of beer had been banned inside all eight stadiums set to be used in the tournament, in a U-turn decision made just three days before the tournament is due to begin. The only people able to drink alcohol inside the stadiums are those in hospitality boxes, where prices start at £19,000 for a suite.

Elsewhere, comedian Joe Lycett unveiled the shredder he will use to destroy £10,000 of his own money if David Beckham doesn’t end his £10million sponsorship deal with Qatar, Metro reports. If Beckham does cut ties with the tournament, however, Lycett has said he will donate that money to queer charities.

Lycett has been criticised for this, however. One Twitter user urging him to rethink argued that £10,000 “is a lifeline for a small charity”.

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