The issue is extremely sensitive for democratically governed Taiwan, which bristles at China’s claims of sovereignty over its territory, and especially at its giant neighbor’s efforts to claim people from Taiwan as so many from China.
All World Cup ticket holders must apply for the Hayya card used to identify supporters, which also serves as their entry visa to Qatar.
On Tuesday, the nationalities drop-down menu on the application system had no listing for Taiwan, and a senior Qatari official said that Taiwanese would likely be listed as originating from China on the map.
On Wednesday, the online system displayed “Tawan, province of China”, terminology that has angered the Taiwanese government and much of its population, although it also included a Taiwanese flag, an anathema symbol for the government. Chinese.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said it was “unacceptable to put our country down” and that they expected organizers to “immediately correct their ways”.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs once again calls on the organizers of the World Cup not to allow inappropriate political factors to interfere with simple sporting activities and tarnish sports venues which value fair competition and promote the spirit of athletes” , she added.
The organizers should let sport be sport and offer fans around the world “a clean football World Cup”.
There was no immediate response to comments from World Cup organizers. The Qatar government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan takes part in most international sporting events, such as the Olympics, under the name “Chinese Taipei” to avoid political problems with Beijing.
Taiwan does not have diplomatic relations with Qatar, which, like most countries, only recognizes the Chinese government.
China, which is seeking to assert its sovereignty claims, has intensified pressure on foreign countries and companies to refer to Taiwan as part of China in official documents and on websites, often using the wording “Tawan, province of China”, or “Tawan, China”.
Taiwan has never made it to a World Cup finals and was knocked out in the second round of Asian nations qualifying for the 2022 tournament last year after losing all eight of their matches.