RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AA) – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Saturday rejected critical comments by German officials about Qatar’s human rights record. On Thursday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Qatar hosting the World Cup 2022 was “very tricky” for Germany, alleging human rights abuses by Doha. Qatar summoned the...
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AFP): Saudi Arabia is putting on 240 flights a week and easing overland travel to attract tens of thousands of football fans attending the World Cup in neighbouring Qatar, the kingdom’s tourism minister told AFP. Saudi Arabia has offered multi-entry 60-day visas to holders of the World Cup’s Hayya pass, the co...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk has demanded the world football governing body remove Iran from the forthcoming World Cup in Qatar, and include Ukraine instead. “Ukraine should be at the World Cup. Iran deserves no place there!” Sergei Palkin, the club’s CEO, said in a statement on Twitter. “While...
DOHA, Qatar (AA) – Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said Tuesday his country has faced an “unprecedented campaign” of criticism over the hosting of World Cup 2022. “Since we won the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced,” Emir […]...
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – A Spanish court sentenced a man whom the ISIS told to carry out a drone attack on Barcelona’s Camp Nou football stadium to three years behind bars on Monday. Police arrested Mohammed Yassi Amrani in May 2020, during the depths of Spain’s strict COVID-19 lockdown. Spain’s Interior Ministry said he was […]
Doha, Qatar (AFP): FIFA’s president has sought to overcome lingering doubts about Qatar’s rights record ahead of the World Cup as the global body confirmed it is negotiating a fund for migrant workers who died or were injured. Gianni Infantino said “Qatar has delivered amazing” results with the multi-billion dollar stad...
Doha, Qatar (AFP): Qatar has said that more than 1.5 million people have applied for the compulsory pass for the football World Cup, that begins on November 20. Saad Al-Suwaidi, head of the Hayya pass service, said that between 1.5 million and 1.7 million people have so far applied for the card, that acts as […]
Doha, Qatar (AFP): Hazem Attar was 10 when he fled the stricken Syrian city of Aleppo seven years ago. Seven members of his family packed into a bus to escape the city that had endured more than three years of bombs and bullets from government forces under Bashar Al Assad. They were put in a […]
Doha, Qatar (AFP): Qatar World Cup organisers have warned fans to brace for “congestion” in the first two weeks of the tournament when the peak number of supporters will be packing the Gulf state’s capital. Private cars will be banned from many streets and residents near some stadiums will need permits to get to their [&helli...
Malang, Indonesia (AFP): Elite Indonesian police officers are under investigation over a stadium stampede that killed 131 people, including dozens of children, in one of the deadliest disasters in football history. As public anger grew, police moved to punish those responsible for the crush in the city of Malang that witnesses say started when...
