Which artists have declined to perform at the World Cup opening ceremony? Shakira, Dua Lipa, Rod Stewart...
Some high profile musicians have been anxious to distance themselves with performing in the Gulf state with the World Cup set to start on 20 November.
A number of high profile musicians have been keen to distance themselves from the Qatar World Cup with English born pop singer Dua Lipa stating publicly that she had no intention at performing at Sunday’s opening ceremony at the Al Bayt Stadium despite rumours.
Via an Instagram story, the London born singer ruled out the possibility of performing in Doha next weekend and availed of the post to criticise the Gulf nation for its policy on the LGBTQ community with homosexuality being illegal in Qatar.
Dua Lipa Insta on Qatar: “I will not be performing & nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar & I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host” pic.twitter.com/7oxOmXXSMv
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) November 13, 2022
“I will not be performing & nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform. I will be cheering England on from afar & I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host”
Scottish crooner Stewart says no to Qatar
Speaking to the Sunday Times, the veteran rocker stated: ”I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1 million, to perform there 15 months ago. I turned it down. It’s not okay to go. And the Iranians should also be out for supplying weapons.”
Rod Stewart said in an interview that he was offered $1 million to perform at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — but turned down the gig because of the controversy surrounding human rights in the country. https://t.co/jO0wfGV5g4 pic.twitter.com/xPmWNcnLbq
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 15, 2022
Shakira makes Qatar u-turn
Colombian singer Shakira was earmarked to be one of the star performers at the World Cup opening ceremony ahead of the Qatar-Ecuador match but had a change of heart last week and will not be involved. No reason was given for the decision amid the singer’s high profile split from long time partner, former FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué.
No Cure in Qatar
Amid the high number of artists ruling themselves out of performing in the Gulf state, The Cure frontman took to Twitter and with tongue very firmly in cheek, ruled out his group from playing in Qatar. The English band are in the middle of an extensive European tour.
HATE TO DISAPPOINT EVERYONE, BUT DESPITE THE RUMOURS WE WILL NOT BE HEADLINING THE WORLD CUP OPENING CEREMONY #breadandcircuses
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) November 14, 2022
SC make their position clear
In a recent interview with CNN, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said that the 2022 World Cup “will be an inclusive and safe tournament” and said that “everyone is welcome, regardless of race, origin, religion, gender, orientation, or nationality.”