Taiwan accuses Qatar of politicizing World Cup

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry accused Qatar of politicizing the FIFA World Cup after a senior Qatari official said Taiwanese were likely to be listed as Chinese on a card “Haya”.

All World Cup ticket holders must apply for the Haya card, which is used to identify fans, which is also used as an entry visa to Qatar.

And the crisis began yesterday, as the name of Taiwan did not appear at all in the list of different nationalities around the world on the application of applying.

The online application showed the word (Taiwan, a territory of China), a term that angered the Government of Taiwan and much of its people.

A spokeswoman for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “It is unacceptable to underestimate our country.”

She added, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the World Cup organizers once again not to allow inappropriate political factors to interfere in sporting activities and distort sporting events that value fair competition and emphasize sportsmanship.”

“The organizers should leave sporting events alone and give fans around the world a fair World Cup,” she added.

Taiwan has competed in most international sporting events, such as the Olympics, as “China’s Taipei”, to avoid political problems with Beijing.

This is a very sensitive issue for Taiwan, which enjoys democratic rule and is outraged by China’s claims of sovereignty, especially in the light of its giant neighbour’s attempts to treat Taiwan citizens as Chinese.