The Qatar World Cup Supreme Committee were forced to hit back at the president of the Norwegian FA after she publicly criticised the country's poor human rights record at the FIFA Congress in Doha.
Accusations concerning the treatment of migrant workers and a poor record of human rights have plagued Qatar since it was controversially awarded the World Cup finals 12 years ago.
Meanwhile, concerns have also been raised about female and LGBTQ+ supporters being able to attend the finals given male homosexuality is punishable by a prison sentence, same-sex marriages are not recognised by the government and women's rights are much more restricted than in other parts of the world.
During Thursday's FIFA Congress in the Gulf State, Norway FA president Lise Klaveness described the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar as "unacceptable" in the first place - and called for "necessary measures to really implement change" amidst the concerns.
In 2010, World Cups were awarded by FIFA in unacceptable ways, with unacceptable consequences," she said in front of FIFA and the World Cup Select Committee on Thursday. "Human rights, equality, democracy - the core interests of football were not in the starting XI until many years later.
