British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has sparked outrage when he urged LGBT football fans to behave “respectfully” towards the hosts during the World Cup in Qatar. “I think with a bit of flexibility and compromise at both ends, it can be a safe and exciting World Cup,” the conservative politician told LBC radio. Qatar is “trying to make sure people can be themselves and enjoy football,” Cleverly said.
In an interview with Sky News, the 53-year-old said Britain has very important partners in the Middle East. “These are Islamic countries, they have a completely different cultural starting point than we do. I think it is important as a visitor to a country to respect the culture of the host country.”
British activist Peter Tatchell warned that the British government must condemn the “abhorrent human rights abuses committed by the Qatari regime on a daily basis”. Anyone who goes to Qatar for the World Cup is “collaborating with a homophobic, sexist and racist regime,” said the 70-year-old.
Tatchell had previously protested in Doha. In photos, the 70-year-old was seen holding a sign that read: “Qatar arrests LGBT people, jails them and subjects them to ‘conversion’.” Tatchell said he was briefly arrested as a result. “We were eventually told very clearly that it was in our interest to get out of the country as soon as possible,” Tatchell told BBC Radio 4.
The Emir of Qatar recently lamented an “unprecedented campaign” against his country. Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al-Thani said his country was being “slandered” and treated with “double standards”. “But we soon realized that the campaign was ongoing, expanding, including slander and double standards – until it reached a level of ferocity that sadly makes many wonder about the real reasons and motives behind this campaign,” Al-Thani said.
The President of the German Football Association (DFB), Bernd Neuendorf, has meanwhile spoken out against a boycott of the upcoming World Cup. Instead, he promotes an open discourse. “When the World Cup begins, the focus is on sport. But we have to be clear in our positioning when it comes to social and political conditions in Qatar,” Neuendorf told SWR on Wednesday.
