Singer Dua Lipa put to bed a series of rumors that were circulating on the topic of if she would be making an appearance to perform during the opening ceremony for the FIFA 2022 World Cup hosted In Qatar, as she spotlighted the extreme series of “human rights” violations perpetuated by the country.
At 27 years old, the singer put forth her comments via a post to her social media account this past Sunday expressing that she is going to make sure to cheer on her team, England, from a distance and refused to make the trip out to the Muslim-controlled country that is the host for this year’s massive tournament, as reported this past Sunday in a report from Entertainment Weekly.
“There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar,” posted Lipa in a post shared to her Instagram account.
“I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiations to perform,” she stated.
Dua Lipa clears rumors about 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 […] I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fullfilled all the human rights pledges it made’ pic.twitter.com/Ca7DA9H1bC
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 13, 2022
“I will be cheering England on from afar and I looked forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all of its human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup,” expressed the English star.
Gareth Southgate, the manager of Lipa’s home team, stated before, “We have always spoken about issues we think should be talked about, particularly the ones we feel we can affect.”
“Contrary to one or two observations in the last few weeks, we have spoken in the same way other nations have spoken about this tournament, the human rights challenges,” continued Southgate. “We’ve been very clear on our standpoint on that.”
Qatar has recently found itself the target of much scrutiny for human rights violations and its currently held stance on homosexuality, where it still remains entirely illegal to be gay. In statements made as recently as earlier this month, Khalid Salman, the ambassador for the Qatar World Cup, labeled homosexuality as “damage to the mind,” explained a report from the Associated Press.
“During the World Cup, many things will come here to the country. Let’s talk about gays,” explained Salman in English, which was also live dubbed into German for the TV segment. “The most important thing is, everybody will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules.”
Nancy Faeser, the interior minister of Germany who is in charge of sports, expressed that Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani promised to her a “safety guarantee” for any and all fans “no matter where they come from, whom they love and what they believe in.”
