Friedrich Merz advises German football fans to comply with the emirate’s laws at the World Cup in Qatar.
“The World Cup is a sporting event and not a political demonstration event. Ultimately, the fans are guests in Qatar, and the rights of the host country must be observed,” said the CDU leader to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Before the World Cup begins this Sunday (until December 18), the emirate has been criticized for its controversial human rights situation. For example, homosexuality is a punishable offense in Qatar. When asked about this, Merz said: “It’s about football and the freedom of movement and safety of all fans. We should leave the World Cup as it is: a major sporting event in a country that is rightly viewed critically in parts. Qatar can show that it is a good host.”
Major events not only in democracies
Merz also believes that the demand to only hold major sporting events in democracies is wrong. “If that were the case, then the number of venues and probably also the number of participants would drop drastically. Even in difficult countries, sport gives you the opportunity to point out abuses in the area of human rights and to initiate changes,” said the chairman of the CDU/ CSU parliamentary group: “That’s why it would be somewhat short-sighted to only award football World Cups or Olympic Games to democracies.”
The 67-year-old also rejects a boycott on TV: “Not watching the games would not do Hansi Flick’s team justice. The German national team was not involved in where the World Cup was taking place.”
Black criticizes World Cup award
Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz criticized the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar. “We all have a clear stance on awarding the World Cup. It’s not in the spirit of awarding the way we think, how we see the image of man, especially when it comes to human rights,” said the 44-year-old in a media round.
Schwarz doesn’t feel much anticipation for the tournament: “The other thing is of course the sport. I don’t have the absolute World Cup fever yet. It’s also relatively difficult for me to follow World Cup games with mulled wine in my hand,” said he. “Of course it will be the case that you watch one or the other game, but that my whole schedule is aligned to it, it’s less.”
