Norway FA president Lise Klaveness thinks Qatar should have decriminalised homosexuality before selling tickets

By Associated Press

DOHA: Outspoken Norwegian Football Federation President, Lise Klaveness, thinks that Qatar should have decriminalised homosexuality before selling tickets for this year’s World Cup.

The former Norway international, who is gay herself, had already delivered a scathing criticism of the World Cup host and FIFA to an audience of executives at Thursday’s FIFA Congress on the eve of the tournament’s draw.

Qatar’s record of protecting the rights of migrant workers — who have built tens of billion of dollars of projects needed for the World Cup — and its criminalisation of homosexuality was aired Klaveness, the newly elected head of football in Norway and one of the few women ever to lead a FIFA member federation.

FIFA had worked this week in Doha to keep the Norwegian’s speech off the main Congress agenda, and then gave the floor to rebuttals from a Latin American soccer official and the head of Qatar’s organising committee.

“This is not the right forum and not the right moment,” Honduras soccer federation general secretary Jose Ernesto Mejia said in translated comments.

Klaveness was chided by Hassan Al-Thawadi, who fronted Qatar’s bid more than 12 years ago and has led the organising committee ever since.

“You did not attempt to contact us and did not attempt to engage in dialogue before addressing congress today,” he said.

Al-Thawadi said Qatar’s door was always open for people to “educate themselves before passing judgement.”

Qatar and FIFA have consistently said taking the World Cup to the country has accelerated positive changes in the nation’s laws and society.