EU deplores rights abuses in Qatar for World Cup

STORY: MEPs also urged the Qatari authorities to conduct a full investigation into human rights abuses in the run-up to the competition.

The resolution also deplored reports of abuses of the LGBTQ+ community in Qatar and called on the country to decriminalize same-sex relations.

A number of MEPs were wearing the anti-hate 'OneLove' armbands which seven European World Cup captains backed out from wearing following FIFA pressure.

Since FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010 the country has changed some of its labor laws and, ahead of the World Cup, organizers repeatedly said that everyone was welcome - although Human Rights Watch said LGBT people were arrested in the run-up to the World Cup.