More than a million football fans from around the world are expected to gather in Qatar for next month’s FIFA World Cup, but as global competition draws closer, concerns are mounting about how the Gulf nation will treat LGBTQ visitors.
The Australian men’s soccer team released a video Wednesday urging Qatar to decriminalize same-sex relationships and improve its treatment of migrant workers.
“These are fundamental rights that should be given to everyone and will ensure continued progress in Qatar,” one of the players said. “This is how we can ensure a legacy that goes far beyond the final whistle of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
On Tuesday, British LGBTQ activist Peter Tatchell stood in front of the Qatar National Museum for 35 minutes, wearing a banner that read “Qatar arrests and converts LGBT people” and a T-shirt that reads “#QatarAntiGay”. Tatchell, a leading member of the Gay Liberation Front in the UK, said he was held by Qatari police officers for 49 minutes and then told to leave the country immediately. The Qatar Government Communications Office denied Tatchell’s arrest or detention and said in a statement that Tatchell had asked the officers to leave “in a candid way”.
In a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ community – and a violation of FIFA uniform rules – Europe’s eight football teams joined forces last month to announce their teams will wear armbands emblazoned with rainbow hearts and “1 love” in international competition.
Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, is one of 11 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, according to the Human Dignity Trust, a global advocacy group for LGBTQ rights.
For months, human rights activists and athletes have criticized global football federation FIFA for hosting its first international competition in the conservative Muslim country, which begins November 20, for its treatment of LGBTQ individuals, women and migrant workers.
A FIFA spokesperson said in a statement shared with NBC News, “FIFA is confident that all necessary measures will be taken to ensure that LGBTIQ+ fans and their allies enjoy the tournament in an environment that is as welcoming and safe for everyone as it is.”
On Friday, an official from the Qatar Government Communications Office told NBC News that “fans will be free to express themselves during the World Cup” but will be asked to “respect local values and culture”.
“As in many other countries in our region, overt displays of affection, including by heterosexuals, are not part of the culture,” the official said in an email. However, as a society, we value privacy and respect, and these values extend to everyone.”
In an interview with British broadcaster Times Radio on Wednesday, Qatar’s ambassador to the UK, Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, did little to address the concerns. When asked whether same-sex couples would be allowed to hold hands and kiss in public, the ambassador replied: “There are some interpretations of what would be a public display of affection in a particular country that might differ in another, so I think in this context we have to pay attention to the norms and cultures of Qatari society. needed.”
The Ambassador added that same-sex couples will not be prevented from sharing hotel rooms.
Addressing the fears on Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was no longer reassuring. I’m telling LBC Radio Qatar will try to “make sure that people can be themselves and enjoy football – they are striving and I think with a little flexibility and compromise on both ends it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.”
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said it would be wise for the Qatari government to “turn a blind eye” to LGBTQ individuals or visiting couples. He said the risk of negative international attention would overshadow the success of hosting the prestigious international sports competition.
“For more than a decade it has been an important element of development plans and part of the way Qatar has declared itself as a state of ambition and a state with important plans to play a larger role in international relations,” Ulrichsen said. Said. to the World Cup.
The scrutiny of how Qatar treats its own LGBTQ people gained traction en route to the World Cup.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing six cases and five cases of alleged violent and repeated beatings. alleged Cases of sexual harassment of LGBTQ people in the custody of Qatari police between 2019 and this past September. The Qatari government denied the allegations in the news.
Rasha Younes, a researcher who studies LGBTQ rights in the Middle East and North Africa for Human Rights Watch and author of the new report, said she hopes LGBTQ solidarity will influence Qatar’s domestic policies.
“We are not only interested in what will happen during the World Cup, but we are also interested in showing a genuine commitment to the LGBTQ residents of Qatar, who are speaking now, by continuing to monitor the situation after the international fans have gone, after the media has been distracted. raised,” he said.
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