According to a survey published by three Scandinavian media, gay couples are being turned away by several hotels recommended by Fifa for the period of the FIFA World Cup, which begins in November.
A World “inclusive”, really ? Organizer of the World Cup which is to take place in Qatar from November 21, the International Football Federation (Fifa) has been insisting for months, together with the local authorities, that the competition will be open to all those who want to follow it. , regardless of their sexual orientation. A sensitive issue in a country where homosexuality is strictly prohibited and repressed, and punishable by seven years in prison. But an investigation published Thursday by three Scandinavian media (the Norwegian NRKthe Swedish SVT and Danish DR) highlights the pretenses of this well-rehearsed communication strategy.
The journalists contacted each of the 69 hotels recommended by Fifa for the World Cup, each time posing as a couple of men wishing to go to Qatar for a honeymoon. If thirty-three establishments expressed no objection, three others categorically refused, without concealing the reason. “We do not accept homosexual couples”, objects on the phone to an employee of the Magnum Hotel & Suites Westbay, while another, who works for The Torch Doha, explains in an email that he cannot grant a room to the fictitious couple “due to hotel policy”. In April, Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, a senior Qatari official in charge of tournament security, said that the fact that men book a room together or sleep together “do not look” the emirate.
Twenty other hotels have agreed to receive homosexual couples, but with reservations: the bride and groom are explicitly asked not to publicly expose their relationship. “For us it’s ok, if you dress appropriately, don’t display sexual behavior and don’t kiss in public,” indicates a hotel in an email. Another is thoughtful: “I would like to inform you that we have already had incidents where the police arrested Qataris at the hotel who had had homosexual relations.”
Doha had warned last month that rainbow flags, a symbol of sexual diversity, could be withdrawn from supporters who waved them in stadiums, allegedly for the “protect”. “You want to express your point of view on the situation of LGBT, do it in a society where it will be accepted. […] But don’t come and insult the whole society with that,” commented Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari. Any allusion to the LGBT struggle is prohibited in Qatar, where even the “seduction” with a view to committing an act of “sodomy” can be punished with three years in prison.
Fifa did not respond in substance to the accusations made by the Scandinavian media, contenting themselves with stating that “All necessary measures will be put in place for LGBT supporters, so that they, like everyone else, can feel welcome and safe”. As for Qatar, it recalls having drawn up in 2020 a protocol intended to eliminate discrimination during the World Cup, which applies to all the actors involved in the organization of the competition. But ask supporters to “respect cultural norms” of Qatar by not displaying their romantic relationships on the public highway. At the end of 2021, Doha had already found itself on the defensive on the subject after the publication, by the English media DailyMail and the NGO Human Rights Watch, testimonies of Qatari homosexuals who recounted living in fear of one day being unmasked and imprisoned.