CNA Newsroom, Nov 17, 2022 / 08:20 am
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the “sports bishop” of the German Bishops’ Conference on Thursday called for a critical look at conditions in the competition’s host country, including the situation of Christians.
The international soccer competition kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 20, in the State of Qatar, an emirate on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, who is the current sports commissioner of the German Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement published Nov. 17 that he did not want to give soccer fans “a bad conscience,” even if people were “asking how it came about that Qatar, of all places, was chosen by FIFA as the host country 12 years ago.”
“Enjoyment of sports, including worldwide mega-events, has its own right, even if it may be clouded by the extreme commercialization of soccer in particular. But it is nevertheless right to take a critical look at the political and social conditions in Qatar.”
Credit: Source link
