Being gay is “haram” or forbidden in Qatar, so it appears the country finds it tough to welcome homosexuals to the 2022 World Cup in the country.
Since homosexuality means one has “damage in the mind,” according to former Qatari national team player Khalid Salman, who is also an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, it does not look good for homosexuals.
In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, prior to the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state, he has a problem with children seeing gay people, AP news reported.
In that interview, Salman also said that homosexuality “is a spiritual harm.”
Banned
According to a BBC report, homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. Amnesty International, a human rights organization, said that women and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, or questioning) people “continue to face discrimination in law and practice.”
Amid criticisms over the country’s human rights record, including the treatment of migrant workers building stadiums for the competition, Qatari authorities have appealed to outsiders to respect their “conservative” culture, reports BBC.
Despite the appeal from Qatari authorities, German football official Oliver Bierhoff thinks of it as “absolutely unacceptable” and told German newspapers he was unhappy that homosexuality is still illegal in the Gulf state. The former German football star also questioned the criteria used in selecting Qatar to host the tournament.
Be respectful
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly faced criticism after telling gay soccer fans going to the World Cup in Qatar that they should show some “compromise” and be “respectful of the host nation,” PBS reported.
“I have spoken to the Qatari authorities in the past about gay football fans going to watch the World Cup and how they will treat our fans and international fans,” Cleverly said in a statement to LBC Radio. “They want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure, and enjoy themselves, and they know that that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own,” Cleverly added.
With Cleverly’s plea for respect, condemnation from members of the opposition parties came with SNP Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald tweeting: “Foreign Secretary seems, in essence, to be advising people traveling to the World Cup in Qatar to show some respect and not be gay. This is abhorrent.”
Qatari law against homosexuals
Qatar says everyone is welcome to be at the World Cup, which includes LGBTQ supporters, however, visitors must respect the country’s conventional values, wherein public demonstration of affection — even among heterosexuals — is considered distasteful and seen by many Qataris as offensive.
Qatari law calls for a prison sentence of one to three years for adults convicted of consensual gay or lesbian sex, reports The Washington Post. The European soccer federations announced their intention for captains to wear an armband with a rainbow heart design as part of the anti-discrimination crusade during international competitions.
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