Lad who partied with sheikh in Qatar defends himself after being hit with backlash over lion video

An England fan over in Qatar for the World Cup has defended himself from backlash after videos of him playing with a lion in a sheikh's private zoo went viral.

England and Everton fan Alex Sullivan has become famous for his story of partying with a sheikh after heading out to look for beer in Qatar.

The football fan said he was 'having a mooch and trying to get our bearings' in the hopes of locating somewhere he could get a drink when he was invited to hop into a car and go to a sheikh's palace by a guy who said he could 'sort beers' for the group of fans.

While there Alex and his friends got to see the private zoo as well as play FIFA and pool with the sheikh's son, which just goes to show that if a stranger asks you to get in their car you should definitely go with them (okay, maybe don't do that).

Some people doubted that the story was genuine, but further footage of Alex playing with a lion confirmed the incredible tale as the honest to god truth.

This Morning

However, the footy fan faced some backlash over the video of him playing with a lion from the zoo as some people didn't approve of the lion being kept in private captivity in a palace.

Alex defended his actions on ITV's This Morning, but admitted he also had some reservations about the whole thing.

He said: "We had a little bit of backlash from people who don't approve and I thought that as well, but you see the size of this zoo, there's workers looking after them, they're getting fed everyday.

"The lions are getting whisked round in Lamborghinis so all I'm doing is I'm just reporting what I'm seeing, I'm leaving my opinion out of it."

TalkSport

Alex's mum has also chimed in over the whole thing to say her son hadn't been exactly telling the whole truth the first time he'd told the story.

She said he got a few things wrong with his story, including it actually being the sheikh's cousins who he met at the mansion.

Meanwhile, she said Alex had actually been invited round for tea and coffee rather than the beers he claimed had been offered.

Alex is over in Qatar with his dad and they're planning to stay there until 20 December, so they're clearly hoping England makes it all the way and wins their first World Cup since 1966.

Topics: World News, Sport, Football, World Cup

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker