French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday waded into the controversy surrounding Qatar's hosting of the World Cup, insisting sport and politics should be kept separate.
"I think we must not politicise sport," said Macron, whose national team are defending the title they won in Russia in 2018.
The 2022 World Cup, which kicks off on Sunday, has been dogged by controversy, notably over Qatar's alleged human rights abuses, the suppression of social and political dissent, the mistreatment of foreign workers and the persecution of LGBTQ people.
"These questions must be addressed when hosting the event is decided," the French leader told reporters in Bangkok, Thailand, where he is attending a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
French football captain Hugo Lloris has said he will not join other European captains in wearing an anti-discrimination armband during the tournament, saying he wants to "show respect" to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
'A very bad idea'
Macron, who will go to Qatar if France reaches the semi-finals, said it was "a very bad idea to politicise sport", noting that France would host the Olympic Games in 2024.
The president travelled to Russia in 2018 to see Lloris lift France's second World Cup title following a 4-2 win in the final against Croatia.
The authorities in Paris and some other French cities have said they will not show matches from Qatar on big screens as they normally do for major sports events.
President Macron rejected calls for a boycott of the tournament, made by former Bleus star Eric Cantona among others.
"I am not for a boycott of the World Cup," the French leader said.
France begin their defence of the World Cup trophy against Australia on Tuesday, before playing Denmark and Tunisia.
The Danes attempted to take a stand on Qatar's rights record, proposing to wear specially designed "protest" kits to draw attention to human rights. But that idea was shot down by FIFA, football's global governing body and organiser of the World Cup.
