Dylan Bettencourt
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his support for the upcoming Fifa World Cup.
Al Thani added that he is “proud” of the relationship between Qatar and Russia after meeting Putin on Thursday.
“After Russia made a great success in organising the 2018 World Cup, Russian friends have provided great support to Qatar, especially in terms of organisation, with the organising committee of the 2022 World Cup.
“We thank you for this and we are proud of this relationship. This will continue until the end of the World Cup,” the Emir said, The Guardian reported.
Putin said that Russia was “doing everything we can in terms of transferring the experience of preparing for the World Cup”.
The Emir’s political praise for a sporting event came just days after the chief of the World Cup organising committee, Nasser al-Khater, warned against the tournament becoming a “platform of political statements”.
He made his comments after England captain Harry Kane was shown wearing a “One Love” armband during the World Cup, a protest against the lack of gay rights in the country.
However Al-Khater later announced that fans would be free to display rainbow flags in Qatar and gay fans would be allowed to hold hands in public.
“At the end of the day, as long as you don’t do anything that harms other people, if you’re not destroying public property, as long as you’re behaving in a way that’s not harmful, then everybody’s welcome and you have nothing to worry about,” he said.
The World Cup, which begins next month, is an event that at this point cannot avoid being mixed with politics.
Adding controversies surrounded the lead-up to the event, both Fifa and Qatar claim to be trailblazing migrant working conditions despite thousands losing their lives while building stadiums.
On top of the deaths, reports of security officials signing slave contracts and living conditions revealed to be of a low standard continue to threaten the integrity of the event.
Pictured above: Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Vladimir Putin
Image source: @Reuters
