French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday waded into the controversy around Qatar's hosting of the World Cup, insisting sport should not be politicized.
"I think we must not politicize sport," said Macron, whose national team are defending the title they won in Russia in 2018.
Macron was speaking to reporters in Bangkok, where he is attending a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Macron, who will go to Qatar if France reach the semi-finals, said it was "a very bad idea to politicize sport", noting that France will host the Olympic Games in 2024.
The president travelled to Russia in 2018 to see Lloris lift France's second World Cup title with a 4-2 win in the final over Croatia.
France begin their defense of the World Cup trophy against Australia on Tuesday before also playing Denmark and Tunisia.
The Danes have sought to take a stand on Qatar's rights record, proposing to wear pro-human rights training shirts -- until the idea was shot down by FIFA.
