'Homosexuality is haram': Qatar World Cup 2022 ambassador Khalid Salman's comments sparks boycott demands
Barely two weeks before the Qatar World Cup 2022, the ambassador of the showpiece tournament and former Qatari national team player, Khalid Salman, has sparked a massive controversy by stating homosexuality is 'haram' and is 'damage in the mind'.
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FollowWith just two weeks to go before the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicks off, Qatar is gearing up to welcome an estimated 1.2 million visitors even as criticism over human rights violations in the Middle Eastern nation continues. But what has added more fire to the fuel is remarks by an ambassador, who described homosexuality as 'haram' and 'damage in the mind'.
In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Khalid Salman, a former Qatar international footballer, addressed the issue of the illegality of homosexuality in his country.
"They have to accept our rules here. [Homosexuality] is haram. You know what haram means?," he said.
When asked why it was haram, or forbidden, Khalid Salman said: "I am not a strict Muslim, but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind."
Salman spoke in his capacity as a 2022 World Cup ambassador, a position he shares with several football greats, including Cafu and Xavi Hernandez.
The ambassador's duties included "harnessing the potential of football to achieve positive social change in Qatar, throughout the region, and around the world," according to the organisers.
Reacting to Khalid Salman's comments, Rasha Younes of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch called the Qatar World Cup 2022 ambassador's comments as 'harmful and unacceptable'.
"Salman's suggestion that same-sex attraction is 'damage in the mind' is harmful and unacceptable. The failure of the Qatari government to counter this false information has a significant impact on the lives of LGBT residents of Qatar, ranging from fuelling discrimination and violence against them to justifying subjecting them to state-sponsored conversion practices," Rasha Younes said.
Katri Viinikka, Ambassador for Gender Equality in Finland, said, "Homosexuality - a mental illness, said Qatar's official representative. - Qatar can play a useful role, e.g. in the good services of peace mediation, but that is different from unnecessary TV entertainment, which is easy to do without."
"The ambassador of the Qatar World Cup, Khalid Salman, says that homosexuals have "a mental illness" and that we must "adapt". The repugnant statements have many complicit silences and international collusion. A historical shame to remember, " said Eduardo Rubino, President of the Parliamentary Group of Más Madrid in the Madrid Assembly.
A report by HRW detailing alleged "arbitrary" police behaviour towards LGBTQ+ individuals in Qatar was released last month. The report included six instances of severe and repeated beatings and five instances of sexual harassment while in police custody between 2019 and 2022.
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World Cup-bound fans have also voiced concerns over safety in the nation. According to reports, police will be instructed not to intervene in public displays of affection or those who demonstrate in favour of LGBTQ+ rights.
In a recent interview with Swiss media Tages-Anzeiger, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter admitted that he regrets allowing Qatar to host the World Cup. "The choice of Qatar was a mistake, and I take my responsibility because I was the FIFA president at the time."
"Qatar is a small country. Football and World Cups are for big countries. We agreed in the executive committee that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup and the USA the 2022 World Cup. It would have been a gesture of peace if the two political rivals had hosted the World Cup one after the other," Blatter added.
Last week the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, insisted that "everyone is welcome [at the World Cup] regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality", echoing comments made by the organisers in Qatar. The comment was part of a letter addressed to football teams and associations in which he requested them to 'focus on football' and not allow the game to 'be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists'.
Boycott Qatar 2022 trends worldwide
Khalid Salman's comments have sparked a massive public outburst, with several football fans demanding the Qatar World Cup 2022 be boycotted. On Tuesday, during a Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Werder, fans spoke their mind with banners that read: "Damaged mind? F*** you, Khalid."
On social media, #BoycottQatar2022 has been trending since his comments went viral, and several claims that the Gulf nation should have never been awarded hosting rights of the showpiece event.
"Qatar takes every chance to remind us, that they should never have been allowed to host the World Cup," said one user on Twitter. Another user said, "The World Cup hasn't even started yet and already we have the first suicide goal. The shooter is FIFA World Cup ambassador to Qatar and former footballer Khalid Salman."
A third angry Twitter user said, "If you considered watching or in any other way supporting this corrupt event — think again."
Here's a look at some of the reactions on Twitter following Khalid Salman's comments:
(Image Credit: Getty Images - for representation purpose)
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