Watford fan groups criticise club after organising Qatar friendly

Watford will play the Qatar national team in a friendly

Watford have been criticised by two of their fan groups after they confirmed that they would play the Qatar national team in a friendly. The Hornets will face them as part of their training camp in Austria where they will be based from July 5-July 10, playing Qatar on the final day. Qatar have already faced one British side this summer, coming up against champions of Northern Ireland, Linfield, who beat them 1-0 in a friendly in Marbella.

WOW and Watford LGBT+ released a joint statement

But following the announcement supporters' groups Women of Watford FC, a Watford women’s supporter group, and Proud Hornets, a Watford LGBT+ supporter group, have condemned the club on social media. A joint statement from the two groups said: "WOW and Proud Hornets are very disappointed that Watford FC will play the Qatar national team at its training camp. "We urge our team to display its support for all human rights, the LGBT+ community & women's rights at the game and will discuss this directly with the club." https://twitter.com/WOWatfordFC/status/1540372136908537856

Qatar is preparing to host the most controversial World Cup in history

Qatar will host the World Cup in less than five months time however they have come under huge scrutiny for multiple issues, including their abhorrent human rights record and stance on the LGBTQ+ community. Homosexuality is deemed illegal in the Arab state while women's rights are also incredibly backwards in comparison to rest of the world on a grand scale. An investigation in March also discovered that several World Cup hotels in Qatar have refused to allow gay guests to stay and others have asked customers to change their behaviour during their visit. Related links:

• Qatar beaten by Northern Irish side Linfield in friendly
• Protestors at Qatar World Cup could face five-year prison sentence
• FIFA-approved World Cup hotels in Qatar ‘refusing to admit LGBTQ+ guests’