Freed French footballer backs Qatar's hosting of 2022 World Cup despite pay dispute

French footballer Zahir Belounis has said that Qatar deserves to host the 2022 World Cup despite being stuck in the country for two years over a pay dispute.

Despite being stuck in Qatar for two years in an ordeal that he admitted had left him contemplating a hunger strike and suicide, the freed footballer, who has returned to Paris this week, insisted that the Middle Eastern nation deserves to stage the event.

According to CNN, the French-Algerian believes that Qatar deserves the controversial World Cup event as the 'people' are working 'very hard' for it, despite the Gulf state's controversial employment laws, which force a foreign employee to have his employer's permission before leaving the country.

However, Belounis, who was embroiled in a pay dispute with club El Jaish, said that although he would not forgive the people who 'destroyed' his life, he would forever cherish those who helped him, adding that with the exception of the 'disastrous' two years, he had a 'great' life in Qatar.

Belounis also said that there was little wrong with the employment laws in place as long as they were correctly followed, although he added that he believes his playing career has officially come to an end.