Qatar 2022 chief executive Nasser Al Khater to England boss Gareth Southgate: ‘Choose your words more carefully’ | Football news

Nasser Al Khater, Qatar 2022 CEO, hit back at Gareth Southgate after the England manager questioned the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf Nation and claimed it was a “disgrace” great shame” that some England fans won’t be attending this year’s World Cup – telling him to “choose his words carefully”.

Accusations related to the treatment of migrant workers and poor human rights record have plagued Qatar since it was awarded the right to qualify for the World Cup finals in 2010.

Southgate recently said he has been “clear” on World Cup hosting issues in the region and that he plans to hold talks with his team on these issues.

However, in an interview with Sky Sports News Chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol, Al Khater responded by warning the British boss to choose his words carefully when talking about such important issues.

“My question will be, who in the England team has gone to Qatar? My question to the coach is, has he been to Qatar? he said.

“Because it matters if you’re basing your opinion on it and you’re very strong on it based on what you’ve read. said, choose his words very carefully.

Someone with a lot of influence, such as Southgate, someone with a large audience that listens to what he has to say, should choose his words very carefully

“And I think that before making such statements, when it comes to workers, he needs to come here and talk to workers and understand what the workers here have to endure.

“There are isolated cases, those are the ones that get the attention of the media, however, I can assure him that if he comes here and speaks to the majority of the workers, they will let him know. If you know how they got their kids into college, they’ll tell you how they built a home for them and their families.

“And these are stories no one hears, so I’m looking forward to welcoming him here, I’m looking forward to seeing him at the draw and he can hear from me, Mr. He doesn’t have to believe it, but at least he needs to go this far to understand different opinions and different cultures.

“No country is perfect, get it right and I don’t think anyone can claim that, so if someone comes in and claims they’re a perfect country, they need to really look at yourself.”

Southgate also suggested that some UK LGBTQ+ supporters would not travel to Qatar for the tournament because in the Gulf Nation, male homosexuality can be punishable by imprisonment, same-sex marriage is not recognized by the government and Women’s rights are much more limited than in other parts of the world.

But Al Khater responded by reassuring all fans that they would be safe in Qatar as long as they respect the norms and culture of the region.

“First of all, people need to understand Qatar is the safest country in the Middle East, the second safest country in the world, people need to understand what that safety means and why it is the safest country. in the Middle East and why. It’s one of the safest countries in the world,” he said.

“There’s a lot of meaning in that, and I can assure the fans that the reason they won’t feel safe here is because of ignorance and ignorance about tolerance.

“So again, people are basing their opinions and fears on things they don’t understand and that’s often the cause of apprehension for people, ignorance.

“People will feel safe here, people will be very comfortable, what I can say to the fans is, we are a humble country, we have our culture, we have our standards, what we ask of them is to respect it. That means, whether you’re a gay couple, even if you’re a heterosexual couple, we all have our own set of standards. the same standard, we see it the same way.

“So all we’re asking is for people to respect, just like we do when we travel around the world, and basically just to observe these cultural differences. Basically, what’s the point of showing affection in public, it’s that simple.”

Southgate will travel to Qatar for the World Cup draw on Friday, with Al Khater offering to meet the England manager to discuss the issues.

“If he [Gareth Southgate] watching this interview, I have my deepest respect for him, I respect him as a coach, I respect him as a human being, like I said, I don’t have any problem with people’s opinions and obviously, when someone has a different opinion you give them your side of the story,” he added.

“We can agree to disagree, but that’s fine.”