13 days to go! World Cup ambassador from Qatar denounces homosexuality

The 2022 Qatar World Cup logo is projected on the opera house of Algiers, Tuesday Sept. 3, 2019. An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a "damage in the mind" in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF just two weeks before the opening of the global soccer tournament in the Gulf state. (AP Photo/Toufik Doudou)

An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a "damage in the mind" in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF only two weeks before the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state, highlighting concerns about the conservative country's treatment of gays and lesbians.

Former Qatari national team player Khalid Salman told a German reporter in an interview that being gay is "haram," or forbidden in Arabic, and that he has a problem with children seeing gay people.