Qatar World Cup ambassador says being gay is ‘damage in the mind’
"They have to accept our rules here," Khalid Salman also says in a cut-short interview.
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws near, scrutiny of Qatar, the host nation, is increasing. And so it will be further after one of the event’s ambassadors has said that homosexuality is “damage in the mind”.
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and can be punishable with lengthy prison sentences and under Sharia law, death.
In an interview with the German TV broadcast, ZDF, Khalid Salman was asked about the Gulf country’s laws regarding LGBTQ people.
He said: “They have to accept our rules here,” before saying that homosexuality “is haram,” meaning ‘forbidden’.
Asked why it was forbidden Salman continues: “I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind.”
It is reported that the interview, which is meant to be broadcast in full on Tuesday (8 November) was cut short at this point.
Chelsea Pride, an LGBTQ fan group for the club, is among those to be calling out the comments and said “Time @FIFAcom actually responded to this rather than ignoring it.”
It’s the latest in a long line of negative press for Qatar when it comes to its treatment of LGBTQ people. There has also been outrage over the treatment of migrant workers during the run-up to the competition with estimates that thousands have died and many have been abused.
LGBTQ activist Peter Tatchell was arrested at the end of October after staging the first-ever public LGBTQ rights protest in any of the Gulf states. He was released after less than an hour although Qatar has so far called reports on the incident, “completely false and without merit”.
Also in October, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch reported that there had recently been six LGBTQ Qataris had been beaten and sexually harassed while in police custody. Again, these reports were denied by the World Cup host.
The fact that a country like Qatar is even able to host the World Cup at all has been condemned by many including England footballer Beth Mead and Australia’s Josh Cavallo.
Such condemnation has in turn been slammed by Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who has said that “preaching from a distance is not a solution”.
Deplorably, FIFA has called on participating teams not to get involved with politics during the tournament. However, as reported by Sky News, the English and Welsh football associations have said they will continue pressing on off-field issues.
Qatar has tried to assure LGBTQ fans they will be welcome at the tournament but their messaging is continually being undermined, usually by their own.
Former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, has admitted choosing Qatar as host was “a mistake”.
The FIFA World Cup will be held from 20 November 18 December 2022.
Attitude has contacted FIFA for comment.