As the Gulf state prepares to host the world championship in less than two weeks, a Qatar World Cup envoy told German television channel ZDF that homosexuality was ‘mental disease.’
Former Qatari international Khalid Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is prohibited in the conservative Muslim country, in an interview shot in Doha and to be aired later on Tuesday.
Some soccer players have expressed concern over the rights of supporters travelling to the game, particularly LGBT+ people and women, whom rights groups claim are discriminated against under Qatari regulations.
The country anticipates almost one million visitors for the World Cup.
‘They have to accept our regulations here,’ Salman remarked in an interview extract. ‘(Homosexuality) is forbidden. Do you understand what haram (forbidden) means?,’ he stated.
When questioned why it was forbidden, Salman stated: ‘I’m not a conservative Muslim, but why is it forbidden? Because it causes mental harm.’
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