Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville involved in heated Twitter spat over World Cup roles

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville enjoyed yet another Twitter argument on Saturday after the latter’s comments on Lionel Messi.

Carragher took aim at Neville by posting a quote from the Manchester United legend, which claimed “players aren’t fearful of Messi anymore”. Neville made the comments before Messi inspired Argentina to a 2-0 World Cup win against Mexico on Saturday.

The two pundits then got involved in an argument over their work at the World Cup. Carragher is not doing any television work in Qatar during the tournament, while Neville is controversially working as a pundit for Qatar’s state-owned broadcaster beIN Sports.

Carragher started the row by highlighting Neville’s comments on Messi. He tweeted a screenshot of the quote and wrote: “My mate Gary Neville is having as bad a tournament as [Gianni] Infantino!”

Gianni Infantino hit the headlines on the eve of the World Cup after giving a bizarre speech, in which he claimed to understand discrimination because he used to have ginger hair. The FIFA president also told Europeans they could not criticise hosts Qatar because of ‘3,000 years of history’ – among other astonishing claims.

This World Cup is one of the most controversial in history due to Qatar’s human rights record. It’s claimed thousands of migrant workers died building the tournament – something Qatar disputes – while same-sex relationships are illegal in the country.

As such, Neville has come under fire for accepting the Qatari’s money to appear as a pundit. The ex-footballer, who is also appearing as a pundit for ITV, has defended his decision to work for beIN Sports and even bragged about it when responding to Carragher.

“Better one [tournament] than you back home with no one to work for!” replied Neville. Carragher has not travelled to Qatar for the World Cup and his only TV work is providing analysis for Sky Sports News. He’s also writing columns for The Telegraph.

Some fans were left stunned by Neville’s response due to his beIN Sports gig. His reply also teed up Carragher’s next dig, as the Liverpool legend simply tweeted a picture of Neville working for beIN Sports alongside John Terry, Andy Gray and Richard Keys.

Neville then delivered the final blow of the row by tweeting a screenshot of a story about Messi calling Carragher a “donkey” in a private message. Carragher revealed Messi’s comments live on Sky Sports in January to leave Neville in stiches. Carragher retweeted Neville’s response and didn’t add anything further, which suggests the row was all good fun.

Neville has tried to justify his decision to work for beIN Sports by insisting it’s better to “collaborate” and try to “impact change through football” rather than not allow Qatar to host a World Cup and “shy away” from the country’s human rights record.

Yet history suggests hosting a major sporting tournament does not encourage oppressive regimes to become more tolerant. Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup and launched a widescale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February, where a war has raged since.