World Cup ambassador calls homosexuality 'damage in the mind'

A Qatari World Cup ambassador called homosexuality a "damage in the mind" in a German TV interview, sparking criticism in Europe just 12 days before the tournament kicks off.

Qatar will accept gay visitors but "they have to accept our rules", former international footballer Khalid Salman said in the interview with the ZDF broadcaster, due to be aired on Tuesday evening.

Salman also said homosexuality was "haram" -- forbidden in Islam -- during the interview, which was abruptly broken off after his comments.

Qatar has come under sustained fire over its human rights record ahead of the World Cup, including its treatment of foreign workers and its stance on women's and LGBTQ rights.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday called Salman's comments "awful".

"That is also the reason why we are working to hopefully improve things in Qatar in the future," said Faeser, who is also Germany's minister for sport.

Faeser said last week on a visit to Qatar that she will attend the World Cup after being given a "guarantee of safety" for LGBTQ fans by Qatar's prime minister.

'Homophobic basic attitude'

The German minister on Tuesday said she had "no new indications from him that anything has changed".

Faeser described her trip to Qatar as "not easy" and said it had been "important for me to hold talks there to see who would do what for the safety of German fans during the World Cup".

German lawmakers joined Faeser on the visit, but the German government's human rights commissioner Luise Amtsberg pulled out.

Faeser had previously said Qatar's hosting of the World Cup was "very tricky" from Berlin's perspective, prompting Doha to summon the German ambassador.

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Football

German Football Association (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf said he was "stunned" by the World Cup ambassador's comments.

Salman's remarks showed "a very problematic relationship with human rights", Neuendorf told German daily Bild.

"In our view, FIFA should seriously examine whether its ethics committee should deal with this," he said.

The German Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) on Tuesday demanded that the government issue a travel warning for Qatar and cancel all official trips to the World Cup.

It called the comments "disturbing and yet not surprising", alleging that they revealed the "homophobic basic attitude of the regime in Qatar".

The Human Rights Watch group has accused Qatar of detaining and abusing LGBTQ people in the run-up to the World Cup, allegations furiously denied by the government.

Calls for boycott

Captains from a number of leading European countries, including England, France and Germany, have said they will wear armbands in rainbow colours with the message "One Love" during the tournament in an anti-discrimination campaign.

World Cup organisers did not immediately respond when asked for comment by AFP but have previously defended the country's rights record.

"No matter your race, your religion, your social and sexual orientation, you are most welcome, and Qataris are ready to receive you with the best hospitality that you can imagine," FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura said last week.

But Wenzel Michalski, the head of Human Rights Watch in Germany, on Tuesday warned there was "a big risk" that open displays of homosexuality in Qatar "will be punished -- no matter what assurances there are".

In Dortmund last weekend, fans in the club's yellow wall -- the all-standing southern stand -- unveiled a banner saying "BOYCOTT QATAR 2022".

The sentiment was echoed by Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin fans in the teams' clash in the German capital, as well as fans at the second-division game between Fortuna Duesseldorf and St Pauli.