French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday waded into the controversy around Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, insisting sport should not be politicised.
“I think we must not politicise sport,” said Macron, whose
national team are defending the title they won in Russia in 2018.
The 2022 World Cup, which kicks off on Sunday, has been
dogged by controversy, including over Qatar’s alleged human rights abuses,
suppression of dissent, mistreatment of foreign workers and persecution of
LGBTQ people.
“These questions must be addressed when hosting the event is
decided,” he told reporters in Bangkok, where he is attending a summit of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
French football captain Hugo Lloris has 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.
Macron, who will go to Qatar if France reach the
semi-finals, said it was “a very bad idea to politicise 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 defence 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.
AFP
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