The Danish national team, which was banned from wearing pro-human rights shirts in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, will head to the Gulf state on Tuesday, without official representation from the government or the royal family.
The Danish government announced that none of its members will be present at the opening ceremony of the World Cup, next Sunday, not even its ambassador to Doha.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen submitted the government’s resignation after winning the elections at the beginning of this month and is currently in negotiations to form a new one.
“The focus is now on forming a new government. In the meantime, Denmark will not be officially represented at the World Cup in Qatar,” Sports Minister Anne Halsbo-Jorgensen told the Danish news agency Ritzau.
There will also be no representation of the Kingdom at the opening ceremony, as Crown Prince Frederick, who is fond of the elected, announced that he is taking the position of the government.
On Monday, he said, via Instagram, after visiting the players, “The national team has my full support, wherever it plays in the world. This time I look forward to cheering the team from home.”
The International Football Association (FIFA) rejected a request by the Danish team to wear pro-human rights shirts during its training in the World Cup in Qatar.
Qatar faces criticism because of its human rights record, especially on the issue of foreign workers in projects to build World Cup monuments, and the rights of women and LGBT people.
And the company “Hummel”, the sports sponsor of the national team, had previously decided to obliterate its logo on the official shirt during the World Cup in “protest against Qatar and its human rights record.”
Besides the traditional red shirt for Denmark, the only Scandinavian country participating in the World Cup, Hummel also introduced a gray and black shirt with a barely visible logo.
Denmark is in Group D, along with defending champion France, Australia and Tunisia.