Former Dutch soccer player Ronald de Boer has caused a stir with statements about foreign workers who have died in the World Cup host country Qatar.

"It's one word against the other.

Everything is thrown into one pot.

From the teacher to the cleaner to the construction worker.

That's the stuff these numbers are made of," said the 51-year-old during a broadcast on Dutch broadcaster RTL.

He was referring to media reports of 6,500 dead workers on construction sites in Qatar over the past decade.

"It really is complete nonsense.

You threw all the people from those ten years into one pot.

That doesn't do people justice," said the Dutchman.

"People are dying.

No matter how sad.

But they make you feel like people are getting crushed by the heat of the stadium.”

The figure of 6,500 dead workers from Southeast Asia comes from reporting in the British newspaper "Guardian".

The Qatar government pointed out that the death rate was within the expected range given that there were more than 1.4 million people from the region in the country.

The World Cup Organizing Committee argues that construction sites for the World Cup should be assessed separately from others in the emirate.

De Boer was named World Cup ambassador by the organizing committee in June 2021.

The World Cup host has been criticized for the human rights situation and the conditions for foreign workers since it was awarded at the end of 2010.

The focus was and is on the so-called kafala system, which has been officially abolished in Qatar and which practically robs workers from abroad of all their rights.

The government keeps pointing to numerous reforms – particularly in relation to workers' rights.

Violations of the new laws would be rigorously pursued, according to the emirate.

Homosexuality forbidden by law

Meanwhile, a Qatari security official spoke out against showing rainbow flags at the World Cup because he feared possible attacks.

If a fan "shows the rainbow flag and I take it away from him, it's not because I really want to take it to offend him, it's to protect him," Major General Abdulasis Abdullah Al Ansari told the AP.

"Because if it's not me, someone might attack him.

I cannot guarantee the behavior of everyone.

And I'll tell him, 'Please, there's no need to show the flag here'."

Al Ansari is, among other things, the chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee in the Qatar Interior Ministry.

The rainbow flag is a worldwide symbol for the acceptance of sexual and gender diversity.

The World Cup host Qatar is not only criticized by international organizations because of the human rights situation and the conditions for foreign workers.

Amnesty International recently ruled that women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI+) "continue to be discriminated against both in law and in everyday life".

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently said: "Everyone will see that everyone is welcome here in Qatar, even if we are talking about LGBTQ+." FIFA has previously emphasized that rainbow flags are allowed in the stadium.

The Qatari World Cup organizers stated that they would respect the guidelines of the world association in this regard.

Al Ansari said he does not recommend that LGBTI+ fans stay away from Qatar.

"Book a room together, sleep together, it's none of our business," he said.

Anyone who wants to demonstrate their views on the LGBTI situation should do so in a society “where it is accepted”.