Alex Scott is at the Qatar World Cup defying a regime that treats women as second-class citizens

Alex Scott does not deserve our censure for making the decision to travel to Qatar to report for the BBC. ‘You are not gay,’ Scott said, responding to Infantino’s comments as she took her place on the BBC panel ahead of the World Cup’s opening game between Qatar and Ecuador on Sunday night. ‘You will not understand travelling to a country where you are fearing for your life about your preference of who you choose to love.’ It was refreshing to hear Scott speak out so boldly at the start of BBC coverage which, led by Gary Lineker, did not shy away from confronting the fact that this tournament is being staged in a country that has been widely criticised for its human rights record and where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of migrant workers are thought to have died during the building of the World Cup infrastructure. Alex Scott deserves our admiration for having the courage to travel to Qatar to work for the BBC and continue doing a job she loves, and which she has earned on merit The presence of several superb female reporters, presenters and commentators at this World Cup like Pien Meulensteen and Laura Woods is not in support of a regime like Qatar - they are here in defiance of it The BBC's refusal to shy away from the issues was in stark coverage to the supine coverage offered by Fox Sports in the USA. Gianni Infantino's words that this is a World Cup bringing people together are full of emptiness Criticism of pundits who are in Qatar for the BBC is baffling - they are here to do their jobs as presenters and reporters ‘I’m here because I love my job and when I think about it sitting here and having the harder conversations, and it’s bigger isn't it, we're talking about migrant workers, the LGBTQ+ community, women's rights.’ Scott was right to fly to Doha to do her job.