Prince William will NOT travel to Qatar to watch England play in the World Cup amid growing row over gulf state’s human rights record, report says
- William had been expected to attend the games in November for England match
- But was reported last night that Prince is unlikely to attend the games
- Reportedly decision to stay away is due to having a busy diary
- But Qatar received criticism over conditions for stadium workers and criminalisation of same-sex relationships
Prince William will not travel to Qatar to watch England play in the World Cup amid a growing row over the country’s human rights record, it was reported last night.
As FA President he had been expected to attend the games in November with England’s first match against Iran on the 21st.
But The Sun reported last night that the Prince is unlikely to attend – even if England make it to the final on December 18.
They said the Prince’s decision to stay away is due to a busy diary.
But Qatar has received heavy criticism for the conditions for stadium workers and the country’s criminalisation of same-sex relationships.
Same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar due to its strict Islamic rulers.
It has also emerged that Amnesty International has urged Fifa to pay at least £350 million of compensation to Qatar stadium workers for the ‘human rights abuses’ they have been subjected to.
Prince William has long been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ rights. In 2016, he became the first royal to appear on the cover of gay magazine, Attitude.
He told the magazine at the time: ‘No one should be bullied for their sexuality.’
As FA President he had been expected to attend the games in November with England’s first match against Iran on the 21st. But The Sun reported last night that the Prince is unlikely to attend – even if England make it to the final on December 18
They said the Prince’s decision to stay away is due to a busy diary. But Qatar has received heavy criticism for the conditions for stadium workers and the country’s criminalisation of same-sex relationships
Same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar due to its strict Islamic rulers. Prince William has long been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ rights. In 2016, he became the first royal to appear on the cover of gay magazine, Attitude. He told the magazine at the time: ‘No one should be bullied for their sexuality’
Several captains including Harry Kane are planning to wear armbands in support of LGBTQ rights during the tournament.
In a report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch said police in Qatar have arbitrarily detained and abused members of the LGBTQ community ahead of the World Cup next month. Homosexuality is illegal in the Gulf state.
HRW said it had ‘documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022’.
The most recent case was in September, the US-based rights group said.
Four transgender women, one bisexual woman and one gay man all told how members of the interior ministry’s Preventive Security Department detained them in an underground prison in Doha.
There ‘they verbally harassed and subjected detainees to physical abuse, ranging from slapping to kicking and punching until they bled’, HRW said.
‘One woman said she lost consciousness. Security officers also inflicted verbal abuse, extracted forced confessions, and denied detainees access to legal counsel, family, and medical care.’
One Qatari bisexual woman said she was beaten until she ‘lost consciousness several times’.
Qatar outlaws sex outside marriage and homosexual sex, which can be punished by up to seven years in prison. Pictured: Workers walk along the marina near the Katara Towers in the Qatari coastal city of Lusail on October 23
The report added that a Qatari transgender woman told how she was held once for two months in an underground cell and once for six weeks.
‘They beat me every day and shaved my hair. They also made me take off my shirt and took a picture of my breasts,’ she said.
She said she had suffered from depression and was afraid to go out in public since.
In all cases, the detainees were forced to unlock their phones and had contact information on other LGBTQ people taken, HRW said.
Sex outside marriage and homosexual sex are both illegal in the conservative Muslim state, and can be punished by up to seven years in prison.
But none of those detained said they had been charged.
HRW said the six appeared to have been held under a 2002 law that allows for up to six months’ detention without charge if ”there exist well-founded reasons to believe that the defendant may have committed a crime,’ including ‘violating public morality’.
Camel-mounted royal guards patrol outside the government palace in Doha on October 23. Qatari officials said no ‘conversion centres’ operate in the country, though it does have a rehabilitation clinic that supports individuals suffering from behavioural conditions such as substance dependence, eating disorders and mood disorders
A Qatar government official said the allegations were ‘categorically and unequivocally false’.
‘Qatar does not tolerate discrimination against anyone, and our policies and procedures are underpinned by a commitment to human rights for all.’
The official said the government has held talks with HRW and other critical groups, but the latest ‘claims were not brought to our attention until they were first reported in the media. If Human Rights Watch had contacted us, we would have been able to disprove the allegations.’
The official said the lack of notice given by HRW ‘compromises their self-proclaimed commitment to reporting the truth.’
The rights group called on the government in Doha to ‘put an end to security force ill-treatment against LGBT people, including by halting any government-sponsored programs aimed at conversion practices’.
The Qatari official insisted that no ‘conversion centres’ operate in the country, though it does have a rehabilitation clinic that supports individuals suffering from behavioural conditions such as substance dependence, eating disorders and mood disorders.
HRW called on FIFA, football’s world body, to press Qatar to launch reforms that protect LGBT people.
After the report was published, Qatar’s emir later raged against an ‘unprecedented campaign’ of criticism over his country’s hosting of this year’s football World Cup, saying on Tuesday no other host nation has ever faced the same level of scrutiny.
FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010 and it has since spent tens of billions of dollars on preparations ahead of the competition that kicks off on November 20.
But the energy-rich Gulf state has faced constant scrutiny over its treatment of foreign workers as well as its poor record on LGBTQ and women’s rights.
Qatar’s emir (pictured right shaking hands with FIFA President Gianni Infantino) has raged against an ‘unprecedented campaign’ of criticism over preparations for this year’s football World Cup, saying no other host country has ever faced the same level of scrutiny
‘Since we won the honour of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced,’ emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said in a speech.
‘We initially dealt with the matter in good faith, and even considered that some criticism was positive and useful, helping us to develop aspects of ours that need to be developed,’ the emir told Qatar’s legislative council.
‘But it soon became clear to us that the campaign continues, expands and includes fabrication and double standards, until it reached an amount of ferocity that made many question, unfortunately, about the real reasons and motives behind this campaign,’ he said.
Energy-rich Qatar has spared no expense in its grand plans for the first World Cup in the Arab world, promising the country will enjoy a lasting legacy.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said the Qatar World Cup, the first in an Arab nation and which is expected to attract at least one million foreign fans, will be the ‘best ever’.
But since being awarded the honour of hosting the tournament, the country’s human rights record and treatment of migrant workers has been firmly in the spotlight.
Some have called on figures in football to boycott the tournament over its record.
Qatar’s World Cup organisers have stepped up assurances in recent weeks that all fans would be ‘welcome’ at the World Cup.
Visitors take photos with a FIFA World Cup sign in Doha. HRW called on FIFA, football’s world body, to press Qatar to launch reforms that protect LGBT people
FIFA has said that LGBTQ rainbow flags would be allowed in and around stadiums.
England’s Harry Kane is one of several captains of European teams who have said they will wear ‘OneLove’ arm bands at World Cup games to highlight rights concerns.
Meanwhile, French World Cup-winning hero Zinedine Zidane said Monday it was ‘time to forget the controversies and focus on the football’ at the upcoming World Cup, despite calls to boycott the tournament.
Zidane said the focus should now be on the sport ‘for all those fans who just want to watch the football’.
‘In any case, it doesn’t matter what we say, it will never be enough, or true or the right thing to say,’ added Zidane, who was accompanied by his parents, his wife and children as he attended the unveiling of his own wax figure in a Paris museum.
Zidane, who helped lead France to glory at the 1998 World Cup on home soil, was an ambassador for Qatar’s successful bid to stage the tournament.
When the tiny country was named as host by FIFA in 2010 he declared himself ‘very pleased’ with the decision.
Prince William didn’t travel to the last two World Cups in Russia and Brazil. It was reported at the time that he was not allowed to travel to Russia for the 2018 cup in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings.
The last World Cup he attended was the 2010 game in South Africa.
Prince William and his wife Kate’s diaries are laid out six months in advance, but the details of all of their appointments at the time of the final have not yet been released.
At the start of December they are travelling to the US for the Earthshot Prize.
Earlier this month, the Prince visited England’s training ground in Staffordshire and discussed tactics for the World Cup with Gareth Southgate.
Prince William didn’t travel to the last two World Cups in Russia and Brazil. It was reported at the time that he was not allowed to travel to Russia for the 2018 cup in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings
The announcement that Prince William will not travel to Qatar comes after ex-England striker Gary Lineker led a backlash after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told gay football supporters to be ‘respectful’ of World Cup host Qatar.
As well as homosexual behaviour being illegal, there are strict laws on alcohol, drugs, public intimacy, relationships outside marriage, dress codes and swearing.
Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell was stopped from staging the first ever LGBT+ protest in the country.
Mr Cleverly said Qatari authorities know they will have to make ‘some compromises’ when football fans from across the globe begin arriving next month.
But he also urged LGBT+ fans to ‘flex and compromise’ in comments that were promptly branded ‘shockingly tone deaf’ by Labour.
Lineker, who is expected to front the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup, queried Mr Cleverly’s remarks.
He posted on Twitter: ‘Whatever you do, don’t do anything gay. Is that the message?’
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, speaking to LBC Radio, urged gay England fans to show ‘flex and compromise’ towards the host nation during next month’s World Cup in Qatar
Mr Tatchell, who claimed he was arrested by Qatari authorities after his attempted protest, also hit back at the Foreign Secretary’s comments.
He demanded the Government ‘use its public voice to condemn the appalling human rights abuses’ of the Gulf state.
As well as his comments about gay football supporters, the Foreign Secretary – who was yesterday re-appointed to the role during new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle – took a swipe at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Sir Keir this week said he would not travel to Qatar for the World Cup, even if England reached the final.
But Mr Cleverly revealed he would go to the Middle East if he’s able to.
‘As Leader of the Opposition, he’s in a lovely position to send messages. I’ve got real work to do,’ the Foreign Secretary said of Sir Keir, during an interview with LBC Radio.
Mr Cleverly admitted he hadn’t spoken to Qatari authorities in direct response to Mr Tatchell’s case.
‘My understanding is he was questioned, he was supported by the FCDO’s consular team,’ the Foreign Secretary said.
‘I have spoken to the Qatari authorities in the past about gay football fans going to watch the World Cup and how they will treat our fans and international fans.
‘They want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure and enjoy themselves.
‘They know that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own.
‘One of the things I would say to football fans is please do be respectful of the host nation.
‘They will try, they are trying, to ensure that people can be themselves and enjoy the football.
‘And I think with a little bit of flex and compromise at both ends it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.’
Downing Street later distanced themselves from Mr Cleverly’s comments.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman suggested people should not have to ‘compromise who they are’.
He added: ‘Qatar’s policies are not those of the UK Government and not ones we would endorse.’
Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell was stopped from staging an LGBT+ protest in Qatar by authorities
Asked if he would attend the tournament, Mr Cleverly revealed he’d had to rearrange his diary because of this week’s Cabinet reshuffle.
But he added: ‘I think, if I am able to go, I should go.
‘Because it is a major international event, there’ll be lots of my international interlocutors there and also there’ll be a whole load of Brits overseas.
‘One of the first duties of the Foreign Office is protecting British nationals when they travel overseas.’
Lineker’s tweet about Mr Cleverly comes less than two weeks after the BBC found he had breached its impartiality rules over a tweet he made in February about the Conservative Party having ‘Russian donors’.
The Match of the Day host shared an article about Liz Truss, then foreign secretary, urging Premier League teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia, with the comment: ‘And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?’
He also recently said he hoped a Premier League player comes out as gay during the World Cup to send a strong message to Qatar.
Lineker’s tweet about Mr Cleverly comes less than two weeks after the BBC found he had breached its impartiality rules over a tweet he made in February about the Conservative Party having ‘Russian donors’
Mr Tatchell said in a statement: ‘We had great consular service after our protest. The UK Government must use its public voice to condemn the appalling human rights abuses carried out daily by the Qatari regime. ‘Unless we all speak out, Qatar will have achieved its goal of sports-washing its appalling reputation during the World Cup’
Responding to Mr Cleverly’s comments, Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: ‘This is shockingly tone deaf from James Cleverly. Sport should be open to all.
‘Many fans will feel they can’t attend this tournament to cheer on their team because of Qatar’s record on human, workers, and LGBT+ rights.
‘The Government should be challenging FIFA on how they’ve put fans in this position, and ensuring the full safety of all fans attending, not defending discriminatory values.’
Mr Tatchell said in a statement: ‘We had great consular service after our protest. The UK Government must use its public voice to condemn the appalling human rights abuses carried out daily by the Qatari regime.
‘Unless we all speak out, Qatar will have achieved its goal of sports-washing its appalling reputation during the World Cup.
‘Mr Cleverly has an opportunity to highlight the abuses being carried out by the regime.
‘All fans, not just LGBTs, should boycott the World Cup and use their social media to amplify the shocking human rights abuses by the Qatari state.
‘Going to the World Cup is colluding with a homophobic, sexist and racist regime.’
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