First Minister Mark Drakeford has said that he does not regret accepting a free five-star hotel stay in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup, the BBC has reported. It comes after a Freedom of Information (FOI) showed that the Qatar Government paid for the Welsh First Minister to stay at the Ritz-Carlton during his visit to the country as part of his World Cup trip.
The request also revealed the Qatar Government provided the accommodation, board and transport for Mr Drakeford and accompanying officials as part of a hospitality package. Mark Drakeford has now said that he had to take the package for security reasons and could not go to meetings without it.
According to the BBC, the First Minister said: "While it wasn't the way we would have chosen to go to Qatar, it was unavoidable". The First Minister, Minister for Economy Vaughan Gething and four officials stayed in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Doha for three nights.
