Germany's interior minister, also in charge of sports, on Tuesday strongly criticized statements by a Qatari World Cup ambassador who called homosexuality "
mental damage
".
“
Such statements are horrible
,” Nancy Faeser lamented at a press conference in Berlin.
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This Qatari ambassador for the World Cup, in charge of promoting the event, was interviewed by the German public channel ZDF.
“
During the World Cup, a lot of things will happen here in the country.
Let's talk about gays
,” said former Qatari international Khalid Salman.
“
The most important thing is that everyone will accept that they come here but they will have to accept our rules
,” adds Mr. Salman in this extract from the interview which will be broadcast in full on Tuesday evening on ZDF.
Homosexuality is haram (forbidden) because it is mental damage
Khalid Salman
Homosexuality, "
it's +haram+
" (which means "
forbidden
", editor's note), he believes.
"
It's + haram + because it's mental damage
," adds Mr. Salman, before being interrupted by a press officer.
Ms. Faeser, however, affirmed that she remained confident in the security guarantees for World Cup-2022 spectators obtained from the Qatari Prime Minister during a recent trip to the country.
“
It was the Prime Minister who gave it to me, I have no new indications from him that anything has changed
,” observed the minister on Tuesday.
The safety of LGBT + visitors in question during the World Cup
Visiting Qatar last week, Ms. Faeser said she had obtained "
for the first time
" "
safety guarantees
" for all spectators, including LGBT + visitors, in a country where same-sex sexual relations are criminalized. .
She had immediately decided to attend Germany's first match at the 2022 World Cup, against Japan on November 23.
The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani had assured on September 21 that all supporters would be welcomed "
without discrimination
" during the competition organized in his country (November 20-December 18), in an apparent desire to reassure on welcoming LGBT+ visitors.
FIFA had reaffirmed for its part that rainbow flags, symbols of the LGBT + community, would be authorized around stadiums.
The captains of several European teams - including those of England, France and Germany - will wear rainbow colored armbands with the message '
One Love
' as part of an anti-discrimination campaign.