Qatar World Cup Team Depicted as Terrorists in Cartoon Sparking Outrage

A cartoon by a French newspaper which depicts players of Qatar's national soccer team as terrorists has sparked outrage on social media, just days before the FIFA World Cup kicks-off in Doha.

Le Canard enchainé published the caricature in its October issue, which has led to accusations of racism and Islamophobia by angry social media users, who have asked for the removal of the French team from the World Cup.

In the image, seven bearded men are seen with "Qatar" written across their clothing and numbers on their backs.

They appear to be playing soccer in sand while holding guns, machetes and rocket launchers.

Five of the "players" are wearing blue robes but two are dressed in black and don balaclavas and one has a belt that appears laden with explosives.

The French satirical media has infamously trolled the Islamic faith in cartoons over a number of years, with Charlie Hebdo being the most well-known publication that has taken aim at political and religious leaders.

It published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2012, which led to France temporarily closing embassies and schools in more than 20 countries amid fears of reprisals.

In 2015, brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, where they shot and killed 12 people and injured 11 others.

This has not stopped French satirists from poking fun at Muslims and this latest cartoon has had Hamad Al-Kawari, a minister of state and the president of Qatar's National Library, hitting out at the French for showing "little sportsmanship" ahead of the World Cup.

He tweeted in French: "Even caustic satire is welcome!!! But the Canard Enchaîné decided to resort to lies, hatred and grudges to attack Qatar and denigrate it."

He was not alone in decrying the cartoon, with many others saying it was in poor taste and asking for sanctions to be placed on France.

One angry reader took to Twitter and wrote: "Qatar shouldn't allow France to participate in the [World Cup]."

Another said: "It is always freedom of speech when it comes to degrading and insulting Muslims. When is Western countries going to have a red line?"

A third was equally upset, writing: "What Europeans, especially the racists, do not understand is that Europe would not and cannot afford to exist in the way it is without depending on the people of the countries they are ridiculing."

Another asked on Twitter: "When would people stop taking France as a country and start taking it as it is, 'A group of Islamophobic bigoted trolls?'"

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has hit out at the "unprecedented campaign" of criticism the country has faced in the build-up to the World Cup.

He said in October: "It became clear to us that the campaign continues, expands and includes fabrication and double standards, until it reached a level of ferocity that made many question, unfortunately, the real reasons and motives behind this campaign."

Newsweek contacted the Qatari government and was referred to an interview by Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in which he states: "It seems difficult for some to accept that a small country, a small Arab country, can host the World Cup. Racist clichés keep popping up… It is ironic that this tone is used in countries in Europe that call themselves liberal democracies.

"It honestly sounds very arrogant and very racist. And as far as I remember, we are Asian champions. What more do you want than that?"

World Cup fever has yet to reach anywhere near fever pitch across Europe and several cities, including Paris, will not be showing the games in fan zones. This follows an outcry about the treatment of migrant workers and LGBTQ rights in Qatar, as well as the environmental impact of the tournament, which Greenpeace has told Newsweek is akin to "greenwashing".

Ironically, the top soccer team in France, Paris Saint-Germain, is owned by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Qatar Sports Investments and the beIN Media Group.

Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Sport and Olympic and Paralympic Games, Pierre Rabadan, has previously told French media that this doesn't mean that they have to see everything on the same level as the Qataris.

He said: "We have very constructive relations with the club and its entourage yet it doesn't prevent us to say when we disagree."

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