Just before the start of the tournament
For World Cup ambassadors, being gay is “mental damage”
11/07/2022, 7:23 p.m
A few days before the start of the soccer World Cup, an interview with an official World Cup ambassador from Qatar caused a new scandal: a former national team player in the country considers homosexuality to be “intellectual damage” – and fears for the emirate’s children.
An official ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as “mental harm”. Ex-national player Khalid Salman said in an interview for ZDF–Documentary “Geheimsache Qatar” that “many ‘things’ would come into the country” during the World Cup. “Let’s talk about gays. The most important thing is that everyone will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules,” said the 60-year-old.
Above all, he has problems with children seeing gay men, Salman said. Because they would then learn something that is not good. In his eyes, being gay is “haram”, i.e. forbidden. That’s not all: “It’s mental damage,” he added. The spokesman for the World Cup organizing committee, who accompanied and controlled the ZDF team during the shooting, broke off the interview at this point, according to ZDF information.
Respect “for our culture”
Homosexual acts are illegal in Qatar and can be punished with up to seven years in prison. The tournament organizers and FIFA had repeatedly emphasized that all fans were “welcome” to the World Cup in Qatar. However, the Emir of the Gulf state, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, also recently said that respect is expected for “our culture”.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently made serious allegations against the Emirate of Qatar at the end of October. Shortly before the start of the highly controversial soccer World Cup, HRW accuses the police in the Gulf State of arresting and abusing queer people. Between 2019 and 2022, the organization documented six cases of severe and repeated beating and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody. The last case is said to have occurred in September.
“Just a few weeks before the World Cup, LGBT people are raising the alarm about the attacks by the security forces,” said HRW expert Rasha Younes, who also called on the world association before the tournament started on November 20: “The Qatari government should stop these attacks immediately end and FIFA should urge the Qatari government to ensure long-term reforms that protect LGBT people from discrimination and violence.”