Calls grow for boycott of Qatar World Cup amid human rights violation concerns

Calls for fans and countries to boycott the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar are growing and showing up in soccer stadiums across Europe amid concerns about human rights abuses in the Muslim nation.

"The closer the World Cup gets, the more intense the message is getting," Stefan Schirmer, a member of the Boycott Qatar campaign, told Euronews this week. 

Soccer fans in Germany unfurled a massive "Boycott Qatar 2022" sign at a German Bundesliga league game last month and again last week in moves seen by millions on television. 

"We have the impression that since the last two or three months, the momentum is gaining, it's going up," Schirmer added.

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Qatar has faced criticism for its laws that criminalize homosexuality and its treatment of migrant workers and has been accused of bribing officials to secure host status for the tournament.

A Qatari World Cup official sparked controversy and pushback from Germany's interior minister after telling a reporter that homosexuality is "damage in the mind" and suggesting that visitors to the World Cup will have to "accept our rules." 

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"Of course such comments are terrible, and that is the reason why we are working on things in Qatar hopefully improving," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in response to the comments. 

Philipp Lahm, who captained Germany's World Cup title team in Brazil eight years ago, told German Press Agency dpa he won't be attending the tournament in Qatar.

"Human rights should play an important role in awarding tournaments," Lahm said. "If a country that does poorly in that area gets the award (of hosting), then you have to think about what criteria the decision was based on."

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Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has said criticism of his country reveals a "double standard," adding Qatar had faced a systematic campaign against it in the 12 years since being selected to host the World Cup that he said no other country had faced.

Tim Sparv, former Finnish national team captain, told EuroNews he believes FIFA is "rattled" by the attention the boycott calls have garnered while citing a letter the World Cup organizing body sent to participating countries this spring urging them to focus on sports over politics.

"Reading that letter, it sounded really arrogant in the first place," Sparv said. "You get a sense they are a little bit rattled, and they don't like what's going on — people taking a stand and people speaking up."

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Reuters reported last month that ticket sales for soccer’s largest sporting event were approaching 3 million.

The top 10 purchasing countries of the 2.89 million tickets sold at the time were Qatar, the United States, Saudi Arabia, England, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, France, Brazil and Germany, FIFA World Cup Chief Operating Officer Colin Smith said at a news conference in Doha.

The White House said last month it will send a delegation to the event despite the public outcry regarding Qatar’s treatment of the gay community and migrant workers.

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"This is an important event, and we’re going to be cheering on the team, Team USA. It is not an unusual thing for us to do when there is an event like this," White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said. 

Reuters contributed to this report