Dua Lipa denies rumours she will perform at Qatar World Cup, calls out country's human rights record
Dua Lipa has cleared up rumours that she will be performing at the Qatar World Cup, confirming with fans that it is the last thing she wants to support.
Posting to her Instagram Stories, the Potions singer, 27, revealed that it was the country's human rights record that she couldn't look past.
"There is a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar," she wrote.
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Lipa said she would not be performing at the World Cup opening ceremony, and had not been in discussions to do so. Instagram / @dualipa
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"I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup," she added.
The singer's comment comes as Qatar receives waves of scrutiny from players, fans and advocates around the world over its treatment of women, migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community.
Lipa called out Qatar's questionable human rights record as a reasion she wouldn't be supporting the tournament. Instagram / @dualipa
Just two weeks from the opening of the soccer tournament, an ambassador for the World Cup described homosexuality as a "damage in the mind" in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF.
Another concern that has been mounting since Qatar was chosen to host the tournament is the conditions of work for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers that were employed to transform the country in the lead up.
Lipa recently performed in Sydney and Melbourne. Getty
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This year, Qatar has seen pockets of protests from workers who claim they went months without pay, as well as workers who claim they were denied food and water, and were stripped of their passports.
Qatar was also accused of deporting the workers who protested their work and pay conditions in August.
In the country, like other Gulf nations, the right to form worker's unions remains tightly controlled and available only to Qataris – which proves an issue for much of their labour base, which they often import from foreign nations.
