This is the first time Doha has summoned an ambassador to protest statements related to hosting the World Cup.
Qatari officials announced on 28 October they summoned the German ambassador Claudius Fischbach to Doha in protest against the “unacceptable, reprehensible and provocative statements made by a German minister regarding the World Cup football championship, to be hosted by the Gulf emirate within three weeks.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned the German ambassador and handed him an official protest note, expressing the disappointment of the state and its total rejection of the statements” of German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser concerning Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup.
وزارة الخارجية تستدعي السفير الألماني وتسلمه مذكرة احتجاج بشأن تصريحات وزيرة الداخلية حول استضافة قطر لكأس العالم#قنا#قطر #ألمانيا #كأس_العالم https://t.co/neuzlr0Ymv pic.twitter.com/0XvBzoKpD3
— وكالة الأنباء القطرية (@QatarNewsAgency) October 28, 2022
Doha said the Secretary-General of the Ministry, Ahmed bin Hassan al Hammadi, handed this protest note to the German ambassador, asking for “clarifications regarding these statements.”
The Qatari reaction came one day after Faeser said during an interview with CNN’s German affiliate ARD that the awarding of major sporting events such as the upcoming World Cup should be linked to criteria, “namely, compliance with human rights and principles of sustainability.”
Faeser also said she wanted to hear civil society’s opinion on whether progress had been made, ARD reported.
The Qatari protest note stressed “the State of Qatar’s total rejection of these statements against a country whose hosting of the global competition represents justice for a region that has been suffering from an unjust stereotype for decades.”
The memo also surprised the German minister’s statements before her official visit to Doha next week, considering that this matter “contravenes diplomatic norms and traditions.”
Additionally, Majid bin Muhammad al-Ansari, the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, said the German minister’s statements were “rejected, reprehensible and provocative for the Qatari people.”
Ansari stressed that “it is not acceptable for politicians to register positions for domestic consumption at the expense of their countries’ relations with other countries.”
Qatar has been the subject of criticism for the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws.