‘Being gay is damage in mind,’ Qatar World Cup envoy tells reporter; interview stopped

In less than two weeks, Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup, and a representative for the country has told the German network ZDF that homosexuality is “damage in the mind.”

The 2022 FIFA World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman told a German journalist that homosexuality or being gay is “damage in the mind”, after which a World Cup spokesperson stopped the interview.

In a clip shared online, Salman is heard saying that homosexuality is “haram” or forbidden. Concerns have been raised over LGBTQ rights in Qatar ahead of the World Cup.

Former Qatari international Khalid Salman discussed Qatar’s ban on homosexuality in a Doha-filmed interview that will be shown on Tuesday.

More than a million people are expected to visit Qatar for the World Cup, and Khalid Salman stated that everyone traveling there for the event should act by local laws.

 “They have to accept our rules here,” he stated. “[Homosexuality] is haram. You know what haram [forbidden] means?” he said.

Khalid Salman replied when asked why it was prohibited: “I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damaged in the mind.”

The accompanying official promptly ended the interview

The accompanying official promptly ended the interview after that.

World soccer’s ruling body FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Organizers have repeatedly said everyone was welcome in Qatar during the World Cup.

Since homosexuality is prohibited in the conservative Muslim nation, some soccer players have expressed concern over the rights of spectators traveling to the tournament, particularly women and LGBT+ people, whom rights organizations claim are subjected to discrimination under Qatari legislation.

Although Qatar is the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, the tiny country has recently come under significant criticism for how it treats foreign workers and its stringent social restrictions.

The country’s human rights record has led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the tournament.