England: The Transport for London (TfL) has banned the promotion of advertisements depicting Qatar as a desirable destination, or encouraging people to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, as part of a 2019 policy response to LGBTQ laws in the country.
The ban by TfL is motivated by concern about Qatar’s stance on LGBT rights and its alleged treatment of migrant workers.
In 2019, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan asked TfL to “review how it handles ads and sponsorships from countries with anti-homosexuality laws”, which led to the suspension of new ads from 11 countries including Qatar, Pakistan, Brunei and Saudi Arabia.
TfL admitted on Friday that some ads for Qatar had been shown on the network since then, but moved to an outright ban after an outcry this week when European teams at the World Cup in Qatar were banned from wearing LGBT badges.
“Advertising which promotes travel to Qatar, tourism in Qatar, or portrays Qatar as a desirable destination will not be considered acceptable at this time,” TfL noted.
However, it indicated that any other advertisements bearing the official logo of the World Cup 2022 or encouraging people to watch the matches on television or via streaming services, would likely be considered acceptable.
According to Financial Times, this decision angered Doha, which is already disturbed by the criticism directed at it as the host country for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
In response, Qatar began “reviewing its current and future investments” in London, and studying investment opportunities in other British cities and other countries of the Kingdom, AFP reports.
