Oliver Bierhoff says the World Cup host's treatment of gay people is 'absolutely unacceptable'.
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and human rights organisation Amnesty International has said women and LGBTQ+ people "continue to face discrimination in law and practice".
Qatar has been heavily criticised over the country's human rights record, including the the treatment of migrant workers building stadiums for the competition. Mr Bierhoff, the technical director of the German football team and a World Cup runner-up in 2002, said Qatar's position on gay rights "does not correspond in any way to my convictions".
He also questioned how the rich state won the right to hold the competition - the first time it will be held in the Middle East. The decision, announced in 2010, prompted allegations that Fifa officials had been bribed to award the World Cup to Qatar - although an independent investigation commissioned by Fifa later found no hard evidence of this."The awarding of a tournament is the most powerful weapon to push for the necessary changes," he said, but those changes "must occur before the choice of the country and not after, otherwise we have no more means of pressure.
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