LGBT+ people in Qatar have allegedly been arrested and ill-treated with some instances documented just weeks before the country hosts the men's World Cup, Human Rights Watch has claimed. The NGO has released a report which alleges that the preventive security department in Qatar has subjected LGBT+ people to arbitrary arrest and, in some cases, maltreatment during detention. A Qatari official has said the report contains claims which are "unequivocally false" and added the country "does not tolerate discrimination against anyone".
The country is under intense scrutiny over its human rights record and treatment of groups including LGBT+ people and migrant workers ahead of the international showpiece. Wales will compete in the tournament for the first time since 1958 but some fans have said they will boycott the tournament over the host nation's anti-LGBT+ laws, which make homosexuality illegal and punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years. Fans who do intend to travel to the tournament have also been warned to expect a different atmosphere to previous World Cups.
The Human Rights Watch report documented six cases of "severe" beatings and sexual harassment by police between 2019 and 2022. The report claims the people in question were arrested in public places based on their gender expression with security forces searching their phones. Transgender women were targeted specifically and were forced to attend mandatory conversion therapy sessions at government-funded "behavioural healthcare" centres, the report claims.
