November 17, (THEWILL) – On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron entered the debate around Qatar’s World Cup, stating that politics should not be brought into sports.
The 2022 World Cup, which begins on Sunday, has been marred by controversy, including claims that Qatar violated the human rights of their foreign employees, repressed dissent, and persecuted LGBTQ individuals.
Speaking in Bangkok, where he is attending a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Macron, whose French national team are defending champions said: “I think we must not politicise sport. These questions must be addressed when hosting the event is decided.”
Some teams had sought to protest in different ways with the Denmark team proposing to wear pro-human rights training shirts until the idea was shot down by FIFA. French captain, Hugo Lloris, said he will not join other European captains in wearing an anti-discrimination armband during the tournament, saying he wanted to “show respect” to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
France begins their defence of the World Cup trophy against Australia on Tuesday, before also playing Denmark and Tunisia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
