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The King of Spain will travel to Qatar this Wednesday for a match with the Spanish soccer team in the 2022 World Cup and is being criticized by left-wing parties, including one of those that are part of the ruling coalition.
Felipe VI is being criticized by the leaders of Unidas Podemos, the platform of the Spanish left-wing party that is part of the current government coalition led by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“It doesn’t fail. wherever there is a dictatorial, murderous, sexist, homophobic, ‘petrodollar’ Arab theocracy, the Bourbons are leaving quickly“Wrote on the social network Twitter the spokesman in Parliament for the United We Can group, Paulo Echenique, referring to the emeritus king of Spain, Juan Carlos de Borbón, who has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 2020, after investigations into suspicions of corruption. , some of them related to states and millionaires in the Middle East.
The luxurious and solitary life that Juan Carlos has led for a year in the Emirates
Another leader of United We Can and deputy, Gerardo Pisarello, considered this Monday, at a press conference, “Unfortunate” the trip of Felipe VI to Qatara country that does not respect human rights.
“This World Cup already has losers,” said the deputy, who referred to the thousands of deaths registered (and denounced by non-governmental organizations) in the construction of stadiums for this sports competition, but also to the violation of women’s rights and the LGTBI+ community (lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersex and others).
For Pisarello, soccer fans themselves are also part of this category, as they see how “such a valued and passionate sport is being used to make money at the expense of civil rights.”
Another deputy, from the left-wing Catalan Candidacy of Popular Unity (CUP) party, Mireia Vehí, considered a “shame” and a “disappointment” the march of the KingHead of State of Spain, to the World Cup and criticized the participation of the Spanish team after thousands of people died building the stadiums.
The spokesperson for the Spanish Government, the socialist minister Isabel Rodríguez, considered “very correct” that the King goes to Qatar to support the national team because that is “the feeling of the vast majority of Spaniards.”
Isabel Rodríguez said that support for the national team unites the Spanish and celebrated Felipe VI’s trip to Qatar for the first game, adding that what the Government wants is “a good championship and results, and the celebration of a victory”. for the team.
World2022. Fans prevented from entering the Portugal-Nigeria match with Amnesty International shirts
The King of Spain must always travel accompanied by a member of the Government and will go to Qatar on Wednesday, not with a minister, but with the president of the Higher Sports Council, according to official sources quoted by the EFE news agency.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, should go to Qatar if Spain reaches the World Cup finalwhich ends on December 18, the same sources said.
The visit of political leaders and other dignitaries to Qatar is being criticized, especially in Europe, for the disrespect for human rights in the emirate.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres, arrived in Qatar on the eve of the start of the competition and other Heads of State and Government have already been or have announced their trip to the World Cup.
But there are also others who have already announced that they will not go to Qatar, such as the four main leaders of the European Union (EU): the presidents of the EU Commission, the German Ursula von der Leyen, of the EU Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, and from the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola from Malta, as well as the head of European diplomacy, the Spanish Josep Borrell.
In Portugal, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, and the Prime Minister, António Costa, have already expressed their intention to accompany the matches of the Portuguese team.
Marcelo defends going to the World Cup and guarantees: “The day after tomorrow I will be talking about human rights in Qatar”
“Qatar does not respect human rights. All the construction of the stadiums and such… but well, let’s forget about that. It is reprehensible, but let’s focus on the team,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said last week, generating criticism and calling on the three politicians who assume the highest positions in the state hierarchy to boycott the event.
The opening session of the World Cup, on Sunday, was attended by “several of Their Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies, Heads of State and Heads of Delegations from sister and friendly countries,” recalled the Al Jazeera television channel.
In addition to Guterres, the presidents of Rwanda, Algeria, Turkey and Egypt, as well as the Saudi crown prince, attended the ceremony.
Source: Observadora
