Dylan Bettencourt
2022 Fifa World Cup hosts Qatar were due to play English side Watford in a friendly match but it has been cancelled due to concerns over the country’s poor human rights record.
Two of the club’s supporter groups, Women of Watford (WOW) and Proud Hornets, urged the club to cancel the fixture to display its support for all human rights, the LGBT+ community and human rights.
“The game was never finalised and it became abundantly clear this was a game not to play. As such, the schedule was revised,” a club spokesperson said in a statement.
The Qatar Football Association (QFA) said they had received several requests for friendly matches from European clubs, including Watford.
“After studying the offers we selected some friendly matches with various European teams.
Watford was not among these matches that the team will play,” the QFA said in a statement.
The Qatar football governing body did not mention any other club that requested a friendly match.
Due to homosexuality being illegal in the Arabic state, the Watford supporter groups felt their club could not go ahead with the fixture.
“WOW and Proud Hornets are delighted that Watford FC has listened to our concerns and cancelled the game with Qatar,” the two groups wrote in a joint statement on Twitter.
“We look forward to continuing our discussions with the club on all equality, diversity and inclusion issues.”
Watford were relegated from the English Premier League last season after slumping to a 19th place finish.
Image source: @WatordFootballClub
