The 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18. (Credit: AFP)
BERLIN, Germany — A Qatar World Cup ambassador told German television broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality is "damage in the mind," as the Gulf state prepares to host the global tournament in less than two weeks.
In an interview, filmed in Doha, to be screened later on Tuesday, former Qatari international Khalid Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country.
Some soccer players raised concerns over the rights of fans traveling to the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say are discriminated against by Qatari laws.
The country expects more than one million visitors for the World Cup.
"They have to accept our rules here," Salman said in the interview. "[Homosexuality] is haram. You know what haram (forbidden) means?" he said.
When asked why it is haram, Salman said: "I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind."
The interview was then immediately stopped by an accompanying official. Qatar's World Cup organizers, when contacted by Reuters, declined to comment.
World soccer's ruling body FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Obviously these comments are terrible," responded Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who visited Qatar a week ago.
Faeser said she received security guarantees from the local interior minister and prime minister and that this applied to the protection of homosexual fans as well as against possible racist or anti-Semitic attacks.
"I have no new indications from [the Qatari interior minister] now that anything should have changed in this regard," Faeser told reporters.
Organizers have repeatedly said everyone is welcome in Qatar during the World Cup.
Qatar is the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup but the small nation has come under intense pressure in recent years for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.
The country's human rights record has led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 tournament.