Homosexuality is a ‘mental disorder’, Qatari minister

The Qatari ambassador for the World Cup is being criticized after his comments. He has described homosexuals as ‘mentally deranged’. Khalid Salman said this while giving an interview to the German public broadcaster ZDF. He further said that homosexuality is a “spiritual loss” and that he gets upset when he sees gay children.

There have long been concerns in the Western media that Qatar is a conservative country and that “LGBT” tourists visiting football matches may be treated inappropriately. This statement of Khalid Salman has come out at a time when only two weeks are left for the start of the Football World Cup in Qatar. Around 12 lakh international fans are expected to come to this country to participate in this event.

German interior minister Nancy Feiser is also the country’s sports minister. He rejected Khalid Salman’s statement and termed it as “terrible”. Pfizer plans to travel to Qatar for Germany’s World Cup opener against Japan. However, the German interior minister said last week that Qatar’s prime minister had given him a “safety guarantee” for LGBT fans.

Just a few days ago, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused the Berlin government of “double standards”. While giving an interview to the German newspaper “Frankfurter Allgemeine”, the Qatari foreign minister said, “The German people are being given wrong information by the government.” At that time, the German government does not have any problem with Qatar, when it has to buy fuel or save its German citizens from Afghanistan.

The Qatari foreign minister said, “Our highest authority has repeatedly reiterated that everyone is welcome and no one will be discriminated against.”

“Law enforcement officers are clearly instructed to intervene only if the safety of a fan is at risk due to violence,” he said.

The Qatari government is facing allegations of human rights violations during the construction of the football stadium. On the other hand, the Doha government rejects all such reports.