England boss Gareth Southgate has expressed his sadness and anger regarding the situation LGBTQ+ football fans are facing at the 2022 World Cup.
The 51-year-old has said it's "horrible" and "a great shame" that some sections of England's fanbase won't feel comfortable enough to travel to Qatar in November as homosexuality is still illegal.
The Three Lions manager urged organisers to prove to fans that everyone would be welcome in the country regardless of sexual orientation.
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Gareth said: "There are the issues that potentially threaten our fans when they travel: the rights of women and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in particular.
“Sadly, through discussions I’ve had, I don’t think some of those communities are going to go and that’s a great shame. We stand for inclusivity as a team and it would be horrible to think some of our fans feel they can’t go because they feel threatened or they’re worried about their safety. There needs to be some clarity and some better communication that they are going to be safe, because they’re not feeling that."
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years. The country, which runs Sharia courts, can punish Muslim men with the death penalty for engaging in same-sex activity. However, there has been no record of this to date.
Amnesty International have accused the FA of being overly complacent on the subject of human rights issues in Qatar, to which Gareth responded with: “I don’t think any of us are complacent about any of it. I’m certainly taking it very seriously. I want to make sure the players are protected, I want to make sure they are able to use their voice in the right way.
“But I also don’t want them to be used with broader agendas at play perhaps. So it’s going to be complicated. And we’re going to get some criticism whatever we do, but we’re going to try to do the best that we can. FIFA decided where this tournament was going to be played and we’re going to a country that is culturally different and religiously different.
“So there are some things we’re not going to be able to affect. Maybe there are some things that we can affect. If we can and we think they’re worthwhile, then we’ll try to do that. Without a doubt, one of the priorities in my mind is our own fans and how they’re going to be dealt with in particular.”
In Qatar, laws regarding transgender people are unclear and rarely addressed. However, Nassar al-Khater, the chief executive of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, answered a press conference question about transgender fans who wished to visit the country during the tournament.
He said: “I would like to assure any fan, of any gender, (sexual) orientation, religion, race to rest assured that Qatar is one of the most safe countries in the world and they’ll all be welcome here.
“The safety and security of every single fan is of the utmost importance to us. There’s a lot of training going into security personnel to make sure that things that are culturally different are seen in that frame.
“Public displays of affection is frowned upon, it’s not part of our culture – but that goes across the board to everybody.”
