Lahm stays away from the World Cup in Qatar: "I'm not keen on flying there as a fan"

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Philipp Lahm does not want to visit the World Cup in Qatar

Photo: Ulrich Hufnagel / IMAGO

Philipp Lahm is staying away from the controversial World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.

"I'm not part of the delegation and I'm not keen on flying there as a fan," said the 2014 world champion in an interview with "kicker": "I'd rather follow the tournament from home."

Lahm, who is responsible for the home European Championship 2024 as tournament director, is highly critical of the major event in the emirate.

That's why the former captain of FC Bayern Munich and the national team demanded: »Human rights should play the biggest role in tournament allocation.

If a country is awarded the contract that scores among the worst in this respect, you start to think about the criteria that were used to make the decision.«

Qatar has repeatedly been criticized for human rights violations against migrant workers.

Research by the media and human rights organizations had brought the degrading working conditions to light, and several thousand guest workers had died since the World Cup was awarded.

The situation in Qatar is also problematic in terms of women's rights and the situation of the LGBTQ community.

Lahm calls for critical national players

In addition to the human rights situation, the issues of sustainability and the size of the country "apparently played no role" in the award by the world association Fifa, said the 38-year-old.

For Lahm, it is imperative that the German internationals should make critical comments about the event during the World Cup (November 21 to December 18).

"As a player," he said, "you can't get around it anymore these days."

cev/dpa