Qatar to Europe: World Cup criticism has become hate speech against us

The Qatari Minister of Labour, Ali Bin Samikh Al-Marri, said that the slander and allegations levelled at the Gulf state ahead of its hosting of the 2022 World Cup, have turned into hate and racist rhetoric with the aim of offending the Qatari people and their national team.

Speaking during a meeting organised by the European Parliament Human Rights Committee in Brussels yesterday, Al-Marri refuted the allegations made by some media outlets regarding Qatar’s World Cup projects.

The Qatari minister said that “there are exaggerations and racism” towards his country as it organises this international event, stressing that Qatar accepts constructive criticism, but refuses reliance on false sources.

“Criticism of Qatar and the World Cup tournament amount to intellectual and media terrorism and psychological warfare on the grounds of racism from some parties that do not like the organisation of the tournament in Qatar,” he added, pointing out that the World Cup is a dream for Arab and Muslim generations that will come true on land of Qatar.

Al-Marri called on international human rights organisations to take firm stances against all those who practise racist and hateful attacks against the Qatari people and their national team.

A few days ago, a report published by the Euroscope website found that the campaign against Qatar, which was launched with the participation of British and French newspapers, fell within the framework of open incitement without providing evidence or proof.

It noted that the British and French reports did not shed light on Qatar’s handling of the accusations against it or the improvements it made to labour laws or freedoms.

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