Watford: Club criticized after Qatar pre-season friendly arranged

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Watford have come under criticism after announcing they will be playing the Qatar national team during a pre-season friendly in July.

The Championship side will travel to Austria for a training camp from July 5-10, where a friendly against the Qatar national team has been scheduled to take place on the final day.

However, the club has come under criticism since the announcement. Women of Watford FC, a Watford womens supporter group, and Proud Hornets, a Watford LGBT+ supporter group, took to social media to express their concerns over the decision.

Representatives from the clubs LGBT supporters group and also the womens supporters group were informed shortly before the announcement but both groups have since publicly repeated concerns they aired privately.

In a joint statement, they 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.

Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup later this year but have come under huge scrutiny for their views on human rights and the LQBTQ+ community.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, while womens rights has also caused ongoing debate.

England captain Harry Kane says hes discussed taking a unified stance on the human rights issues in Qatar with Denmarks Christian Eriksen and Tottenham team mate Hugo Lloris.

Watford begin their 2022-23 Championship campaign with a home match against Sheffield United on August 1.

(Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

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