October 29, 2022, 4:35 PM
October 29, 2022, 4:35 PM
The Arab Monarchies of the Gulf denounced on Saturday the comments of a German ministerwhich declared that Qatar should not host the soccer World Cup at the end of November.
On Friday, the Qatari authorities summoned the German ambassador to Doha to “protest” against “unacceptable and provocative” statements of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who criticized the balance of the small Gulf emirate in human rights.
“The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) supports Qatar against all interference in their internal affairs through allegations that are not conducive to diplomatic relations,” said Nayef al-Hajraf, secretary general of this political-economic alliance dominated by Saudi Arabia and that includes Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Qatar on Saturday. Oman.
In an interview with the ARD broadcasting consortium broadcast on Thursday, the German minister stated that “The organization of this competition for Qatar is very delicate.”
There are criteria that must be respected and it is better that competitions (of this caliber) are not attributed to states like that,” added the minister, who was due to travel to Qatar on Monday with the president of the German Football Federation.
The deeply conservative Muslim country has come under fire for its treatment of migrant workers, as well as the rights of women and the LGBTQ community. But it is the first time that a foreign ambassador is summoned for one of those comments.
The wealthy Gulf State, which has spent billions of dollars to host the tournament, which will be held from November 20 to December 18, expressed increasing anger at the criticism received.
The emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, charged on Tuesday against an “unprecedented” campaign against the organization of the Soccer World Cup, denouncing “slander” less than a month before the start of this planetary event.
“Since we had the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been the subject of an unprecedented campaign that no other host country has suffered,” he declared during a speech before the legislative council in Doha.
For the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs, the organization of a first World Cup in an Arab country it is about “justice for a region that has suffered from an unfair stereotype for decades”.
