European Parliament urges Qatar to respect human rights

Strasbourg, 24/11/2022 – Today, Members of the European Parliament approved a resolution calling on Qatar to end violence against women and stop criminalising sexual minorities. MEPs, including the European Pirates, also want Qatar to abolish the death penalty and for local authorities to respect not only the fundamental rights of the local population, but also of all guests of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022. In addition, today’s resolution touched on the ban of rainbow armbands as part of the “OneLove” campaign in support of sexual minorities.

Marcel Kolaja, Member and Quaestor of the European Parliament for the Czech Pirate Party, comments:

“I find FIFA’s decision to ban LGBT+ support armbands of seven national teams scandalous. The spirit of sport encourages the inclusion of anyone with an interest in sport regardless of nationality, religion or sexual orientation and FIFA’s decision reflects the opposite of this spirit.”

Pirate Party MEP Markéta Gregorová criticises the football federation FIFA, who had already made a mistake when it agreed to host the championship in Qatar:

“It is a disgrace for FIFA to allow this important event to be held in such a country which wants to use the World Cup as means to promote its concept of sexual minorities as being invisible and non-existent. However, since economics seem to have been more important than human rights, Qatar has been granted this privilege. It is unacceptable to impose its political propaganda on the players and fans who have come to the championship. 

“I am glad that today’s resolution calls for the strengthening of women’s civil rights. It is sad that in the 21st century, there are countries, where women are mandated to be supervised by their so-called guardians.”

MEP Mikuláš Peksa, Czech Chairperson of the European Pirates, emphasizes the violation of labour rights during the construction of the stadiums:

“Qatar’s tournament and the megalomaniacal idea have claimed the lives of more than 6,500 workers. All this for a stadium city that won’t even stay standing after this year’s matches are played. I would very much like to see FIFA return to its original purpose – namely football – instead of creating propaganda and tourism for authoritarian regimes.”