Yahoo News Dua Lipa rubbishes reports she will perform at Qatar World Cup opening ceremony
Dua Lipa has rubbished reports that she will perform at the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar.
The Levitating singer had been linked to a performance at the opening ceremony - but has taken to Instagram to shut down reports.
In an Instagram story she wrote: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the world cup in Qatar.
“I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform.
“I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.”
Dua Lipa - In pictures
The singer, 27, is currently in Australia as part of her mammoth 10-month Future Nostalgia tour.
The decision to award Qatar the World Cup, made in December 2010, has attracted significant criticism.
Homosexuality is illegal and economic migrants have worked for low pay to construct the stadiums for the footballing spectacle.
Qatar’s extreme summer heat also means the World Cup, traditionally a summer tournament, has been moved to winter.
Sepp Blatter, who was FIFA chief when Qatar won the competition, admitted this week that the decision had been a mistake.
“It’s a country that’s too small,” Blatter said of Qatar, the smallest host by size since the 1954 tournament in Switzerland. “Football and the World Cup are too big for that.”
The 32 teams will play 64 games in eight stadiums in and around the city of Doha which has been transformed since 2010 by massive construction projects to prepare for the World Cup.
The first game, Qatar vs Ecuador, kicks off at 4pm (GMT) on November 20.
