Robbie Williams has defended his choice to sing at the Qatar World Cup.

The 48-year-old singer said “it would be hypocritical of me not to go” on Friday.

The confirmation comes as Dua Lipa and Rod Stewart insisted that they would not perform in the Gulf State.

Their refusal was a result of reports of the exploitation of workers and the country's human rights track record. 

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Robbie Williams to sing at Qatar World Cup as it would be "hypocritical" not to go

Speaking on Friday to the Italian newspaper Il Venerdì di Repubblica, ahead of the opening game on Sunday, the Stoke singer said: “It would be hypocritical of me to not go [to Qatar] because of the places that I do go to.”

"You get this microscope that goes ‘okay, these are the baddies, and we need to rally against them’. I think that the hypocrisy there is that if we take that case in this place, we need to apply that unilaterally to the world.

“Then if we apply that unilaterally to the world, nobody can go anywhere.”

The pop star previously performed in Russia at the 2018 opening ceremony and has been lined up to sing ahead of Qatar's opening match against Ecuador.

“I don't condone any abuses of human rights anywhere. But if we're not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, I wouldn't even be able to perform in my kitchen,” The 'Angels' singer added.

Williams went on to say: “What we’re saying is: ‘You behave like us, or we will annex you from society. Behave like us, because we’ve got it right.’

READ MORE: Joe Lycett issues ultimatum to David Beckham ahead of Qatar World Cup

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“Of course, I don’t condone any abuses of human rights anywhere. But, that being said, if we’re not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, then it would be the shortest tour the world has ever known: I wouldn’t even be able to perform in my own kitchen.”

The news comes as the British comedian Joe Lycett issued an ultimatum to David Beckham over his controversial deal with Qatar to promote the upcoming world cup.

David Beckham is an ambassador for Qatar ahead of the World Cup and is being paid to endorse Qatar.

Lycett informed the former player that if he does end his deal with Qatar,  he will donate the money to charities that support queer people in football.