The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in the country from November to December next year against a backdrop of increasing hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community.
Homosexuality remains illegal in Qatar and can be punished by penalties including flogging, imprisonment and even execution.
Josh Cavallo, the only openly gay male top-flight professional footballer, recently said he would be “scared” to play at the World Cup in Qatar because of the harsh anti-gay laws and penalties in the region.
Although he is yet to be called up for the senior squad, the 22-year-old has played for Australia’s youth team. In an interview on The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast, he said: “I read something along the lines of that [they] give the death