The latest controversy that looms over the world’s biggest football tournament — FIFA World Cup 2022 — is proving to be harmful as the event is drawing closer. Scheduled to kicks off on Sunday, November 20th in Doha, FIFA organisers have continued to face ongoing criticisms about the tournament.
Dua issued a statement on Sunday confirming she would not be performing in Qatar, after a “lot of speculation” that the Londoner would play a concert there.
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She joins a growing list of celebrities and sports stars to confirm they will not be attending the event in protest at the host Gulf state.
“There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar. I will not be performing…nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform,” Dua said, adding she will be “cheering England on from afar.”
“I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup,” she added.
Another artist, Rod Stewart, also revealed he turned down more than $1 million to play a gig in the country and even said Iran should not be allowed take part after supplying arms to Russia.
“I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1m, to play there 15 months ago,” Rod told The Sunday Times.
“I turned it down. It’s not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms.”
Rod Stewart is a passionate football fan, though his beloved Scotland did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar has come in for criticism from across the globe for its stance on LGBTQ rights and the abuse of migrant workers – of whom up to 6,500 have died according to some reports, as they built the infrastructure to host the tournament since Qatar won the contract in 2010.
FIFA has been condemned in recent days for issuing a letter to all 32 competing teams, asking players to “let football take the stage” and not focus on political issues at the tournament.
England manager Gareth Southgate has said that his players will speak out about human rights abuses during the tournament, saying: “We have always spoken about issues we think should be talked about, particularly the ones we feel we can affect.”
Both Wales and England have committed to wearing rainbow armbands during matches as a sign of solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
World Cup-winning German captain Philip Lahm confirmed he will not attend the event in any capacity over the host nation’s record on rights issues, as banners calling for a boycott of the event have become a regular feature at Bundesliga games in recent weeks.
The official list of artists that is available on their website includes Patoranking, Omar Montes, DJ Aseel, Gims, Miami Band, Julian Marley, Myrath, Hassan Shakosh, Clean Bandit, and Sean Paul. It has no mention of Jungkook.
World Cup 2022 takes place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18.
