Blatter criticized the awarding of the World Cup in an interview published on Tuesday with the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger. “The choice of Qatar was a mistake,” Blatter said. “It’s too small a country – football and the World Cup are too big for that.” Qatar has been the smallest host country since Switzerland in 1954, and some of the accommodation has to be abroad. The election was bad, he was responsible as President at the time.
Blatter did not explicitly address the numerous allegations against the emirate. But he criticized his successor Gianni Infantino. He wonders why he lives in Qatar. Blatter sees this as too close to the World Cup organizers. “The FIFA President should be in charge,” he said. “An example: There is a proposal to set up a fund for the deceased workers and the bereaved. Qatar says no. What is FIFA supposed to say when their president is in the same boat as Qatar?”
Blatter has said repeatedly that he was in the United States for the 2010 award. The fact that the World Cup finally went to Qatar was due to ex-UEFA President Michel Platini. He is accused of having voted for the award to Qatar in December 2010 at the behest of then French President Nicholas Sarkozy. It was Blatter’s first interview, now 86, since he and Platini were acquitted of fraud charges after a seven-year trial.
Hype around homophobic interview
The World Cup starts on November 20th and around 1.2 million guests from abroad are expected. Numerous controversies accompany the preparations and start – from the sometimes catastrophic situation of guest workers to the Qatari treatment of minorities, women and LGBTQ people.
The Islamic Emirate itself, which is rich in natural gas, not only invested in luxurious stadiums and new infrastructure, but also tried to counteract the human rights allegations. Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani recently emphasized that “football fans from all walks of life will be welcomed with open arms”.
It was said at the time that fans from the LGBTQ scene were also welcome. International organizations had urged them not to travel to Qatar, because homosexuality is illegal there and is punishable by up to seven years in prison. But an interview by the ex-soccer player and World Cup ambassador Salman with ZDF sowed further doubts about this welcome message. Salman describes homosexuality as “mental damage”.
gayness “haram”
“A lot of things will come into the country during the World Cup. Let’s talk about gays,” Salman said in an interview with German journalist Jochen Breyer. “The most important thing is that everyone will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules,” said the 60-year-old.
Above all, he has problems when children see gays. Because they would then learn something that is not good. In his eyes, being gay is “haram” (banned by religion), Salman said: “It’s mental damage.” In the original he said “damage in the mind”. The interview was then broken off by a spokesman for the World Cup Organizing Committee. In an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, journalist Breyer said that the filming of the documentary was under the strict supervision of the committee.
The statement was made in an interview in the ZDF documentary “Geheimsache Qatar”, which will be broadcast on Tuesday evening. The excerpt with Salman’s statements was already shown in the “heute-journal” on Monday evening. In another segment of the trailer, a man from Salman’s household compares women to candy, thereby justifying their veiling. “Compare it, you have an unwrapped candy in front of you. You don’t know if someone touched it or bit into it. And a boxed one. Which one do you take?”
Qatar laments “racism”
In the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Monday edition), the Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani described the criticism of his country, especially from Europe, as “very arrogant and very racist”. At the same time, he referred to reforms in his country that would continue after the World Cup.
“On the one hand, the German population is misinformed by government politicians, on the other hand, the government has no problem with us when it comes to energy partnerships or investments,” said the Foreign Minister: “That’s not the kind of relationship we have between two countries like Germany and Qatar.”
Previously, the German Interior Minister Nancy Feaser (SPD), who is responsible for top-class sport, had caused resentment between Qatar and Germany because she distanced herself from the World Cup and clearly criticized the award. Feaser also commented on Salman’s homophobic statements: These were “of course terrible”. The German Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD), meanwhile, called for an explicit travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office for lesbians, gays and other queer people.
