German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not yet decided whether he will travel to Qatar for the World Cup, but has left the door open to visit the Gulf country should the German team reach the final match.
«This will be carefully analyzed at that time,» said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, who stressed that the chancellor will watch the matches of his national team on television as long as «his schedule allows it.»
The Qatar World Cup has been surrounded by controversy since its award, more than twelve years ago, and as the event approaches – it will begin this Sunday – criticism has been accentuated by the country’s working conditions, respect for the LGBT community or the lack of human rights guarantees.
On six of the eight occasions in which the German national soccer team has reached the final -the most recent in 2014- the chancellor of the day has traveled to the host country to witness live the dispute for the world title.
However, the Central European country will be represented by the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, who in early November confirmed that she would attend the first match of the national team after, according to her, having received assurances from the host country about the respect for human rights.
