Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has acknowledged that Qatar does not respect human rights, but called on his compatriots to «forget that» and focus on cheering on the national team.
Two days before the ball starts rolling in the much-criticized FIFA World Cup, Rebelo de Sousa responded to those in Portugal who have called on him and Prime Minister António Costa to boycott the event.
«Qatar does not respect human rights. The construction of the stadiums and such, well, let’s forget this. It’s criticizable, but let’s concentrate on the team,» Rebelo de Sousa said after Portugal’s 4-0 friendly win over Nigeria in Lisbon on Thursday.
Rebelo de Sousa revealed that he had spoken to the Portuguese players who will go to Qatar and told them that it will be «a very difficult tournament», not only in sporting terms, but also because of the controversial circumstances surrounding the tournament, according to the Lusa news agency.
In turn, Rebelo de Sousa has confirmed that he will travel to Qatar to attend the training of the Portuguese national team next Thursday 24. «For next week, in the Portugal Ghana, I will be there,» he announced.
Several rights organizations have described the upcoming soccer event as «the World Cup of shame», after observing labor violations and abuses during the construction of the lavish stadiums that will host the matches of the 32 teams that will play in the tournament.
Qatar is under global scrutiny after it was revealed that thousands of people died during the construction of the soccer stadiums in extremely long working hours and high temperatures.
The figures oscillate between the most conservative ones that speak of about thirty deaths, which are those offered by the executive committee in charge of organizing the World Cup, the fifty or so according to a 2021 report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), or the 6,500 deaths reported by some media, such as the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
