QATAR HITS BACK

QATARI officials hit back today at the attempt by rival Middle Eastern countries to take the 2022 World Cup away from them. Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cut off ties from Qatar and blockaded the state, accusing it of supporting terrorism and sowing discord in the region. Now they are trying to put pressure on Qatar’s hosting the 2022 World Cup, demanding that if they give up the tournament – an unlikely scenario – they would lift their sanctions. But Qatar insisted this morning that there was absolutely no prospect of that happening, and denounced their rivals as trying to undermine not just the tournament but Qatari sovereignty. A statement from the Qatari government communications office said that the boycott was “founded on petty jealousy, not real concerns”. “Their weak attempts to tie the hosting of the 2022 World Cup to their illegal blockade show their desperation to justify their inhumane action,” the official said. “There has never been a legitimate reason for the illegal blockade of Qatar, and this is further proof of that.” There is no prospect of Qatar surrendering the right to host the tournament and so other critics of Qatar have told them that when they host the tournament they must repudiate their positions that have led to this. Emirati foreign minister Anwar Gargash said that the World Cup must mean a Qatari “repudiation of policies supporting extremism and terrorism”.