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Football supporters and other personalities associated with the sport have criticized FIFA’s decision to allow Qatar to host the upcoming World Cup over the country’s much-maligned human rights record.
As explained by Reuters (h/t ESPN), English club Watford, who were relegated from the Premier League last season after they finished 19th in the table, were on track to play a friendly against the Qatar national team but will no longer do so after they received backlash from fans.
Per the story, Watford supporters groups Women of Watford and Proud Hornets had previously asked the club to publicly show support for “all human rights, the LGBT+ community and women’s rights” during the game. Watford confirmed on Monday the contest won’t take place.
“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.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Football Association said:
“After studying the offers, we selected some friendly matches with various European teams and Watford was not among these matches that the team will play.”
It’s unknown which European clubs were selected and if those teams would possibly reconsider if asked to do so by fans.
The previously mentioned supporters groups reacted to Monday’s news via social media:
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