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There is no Qatar advert here - and as of now, nowhere else on the London Underground
Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/ dpa
The decision came late, but now London's municipal transport company is getting serious: In protest against the violation of human rights in the host country of the World Cup Qatar, the city's buses and subways are no longer advertising the desert state.
The transport company Transport for London confirmed to the newspaper "Financial Times" that no more such ads would be shown as of this week.
The newspaper reports on Saturday.
The transport company actually stopped advertising from countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense a few years ago on the instructions of London Mayor Sadiq Khan (Labour Party).
However, there was initially a tourism campaign from Qatar on London billboards around the World Cup.
So far, money from Qatar has been omnipresent in London
The reaction from Doha followed quickly: Qatar announced that it would review existing and planned investments in London and other British cities, according to the Financial Times, citing a source in Qatar involved.
The insider told the newspaper it felt Qatari investment was not welcome in the British capital and accused the British of double standards.
There was initially no official statement from Doha.
In recent decades, investments from Qatar have actually been omnipresent in London: The luxury department store Harrods belongs to Qatari investors, as does the mega high-rise »The Shard«, at 310 meters the tallest building in Western Europe.
The lenders from Qatar also hold shares in Britain's largest airport, Heathrow, and in several hotel chains.
In addition, the desert state is an important supplier for the United Kingdom in the energy sector, for example via tankers that supply Great Britain with liquid gas.
beb/dpa
