November 8 – World Cup organisers and FIFA president Gianni Infantino have been at pains in recent weeks to promise that everyone will be welcome in Qatar regardless of sexual orientation.
But a Qatar World Cup ambassador appears to have burst that particular bubble by telling German television broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage in the mind”.
In an interview filmed in Doha and to be screened later today, former Qatari international Khalid Salman (pictured) addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country.
“They have to accept our rules here,” Salman said. “(Homosexuality) is haram. You know what haram (forbidden) means?” he said.
When asked why it was haram, Salman said: “I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind.”
The interview is reported to have been immediately stopped by an accompanying official but will only serve to fuel intense pressure over the country’s restrictive social laws in the build-up to the tournament.
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