Ten days ago, SVT Sport, together with Danish DR and Norwegian NRK, was able to reveal that three (The Torch Doha, Magnum Hotel & Suites Westbay and Wyndham Grand Regency) of the 69 hotels on the World Cup's website said no to gay guests.

The news received enormous attention and spread throughout the world.

Now Qatar's top leader, Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has stated that even gay couples should be welcomed into the country.

- Everyone is welcome to Doha.

We do not stop anyone from coming to Doha, because of different backgrounds or different beliefs.

Qatar is a very welcoming country.

We have millions of people coming and visiting our country, and the World Cup is a great opportunity for people from different parts of the world to come and experience our culture, he said at a press conference in Berlin, where he was due to a gas agreement between Qatar and Germany.

- We will not stop anyone from coming and enjoying football.

But I also want everyone to come here and understand and enjoy our culture.

We welcome everyone, but we expect, and want, people to respect our culture.

Homosexuality is prohibited by Qatari law and can lead to seven years in prison.

ARCHIVE: This is what World Cup hotels say about gay couples:

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Here the hotel nobs gay guests Photo: SVT / DR / TT