Germany condemns Qatar World Cup ambassador who says homosexuality is 'damage in the mind'
The German government has condemned comments by a Qatar World Cup ambassador who described homosexuality as "damage in the mind" in an interview with German television.
Khalid Salman, a former Qatari international footballer and one of several official representatives of the forthcoming tournament, said gay people coming to the country would have to "accept our rules".
Germany's interior minister, who is also in charge of sport, called the statement "terrible".
In the interview with ZDF -- filmed in Doha for a documentary -- Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country.
"During the World Cup, many things will come here to the country. Let’s talk about gays," the World Cup ambassador said in English, which is simultaneously dubbed into German in the TV segment.
“The most important thing is, everybody will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules.”
"(Homosexuality) is haram. You know what haram (forbidden in Arabic) means?," he said.
When asked why it was haram, Salman said: "I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind."
The ambassador, who is responsible for promoting the World Cup, also said that he has a problem with children seeing homosexuality.
The interview was cut short by a media officer of the World Cup organising committee after Khalid Salman's comments, ZDF reported.
An excerpt was shown on the channel's news programme Heute Journal. The full interview was due to be shown later on Tuesday.
Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who visited Qatar last week, told a news conference in Berlin that the German government had held talks with Qatar to ensure the safety of German fans during the World Cup.
"On the one
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