London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

World Cup: Drakeford has no regrets over Qatar hotel freebie

World Cup: Drakeford has no regrets over Qatar hotel freebie

Wales' First Minister said he did not regret accepting a free five-star hotel stay in Qatar during the World Cup.

BBC Wales revealed on Wednesday that Qatar paid for two ministers and four officials to stay at the Ritz-Carlton.

Mark Drakeford said he had to take the hospitality package for security reasons and could not go to meetings without it.

"While it wasn't the way we would have chosen to go to Qatar, it was unavoidable," he said.

News of the hospitality package prompted concerns it may have undermined the Welsh government's stance on human rights, while Amnesty International challenged ministers to show they raised the issues.

Qatar has been criticised for its treatment of LGBT people, women and migrant workers.

Mr Drakeford said he raised human rights concerns at "every conceivable opportunity" while he was in the country.

While the Welsh government paid £13,000 for flights, a BBC Freedom of Information request found that Qatar paid for Mr Drakeford, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething and four officials to stay at the five-star hotel.

The two ministers attended separate games alongside two officials each, with the two separate trips each lasting three nights.

Mr Drakeford's trip came despite Sir Keir Starmer's decision to stay away from the tournament.

UK government ministers also attended the World Cup, including Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, but it is not clear under whether they accepted the same package.

Mr Drakeford told BBC Wales: "I don't regret it, because it was the only way in which it was possible to discharge the purposes for which I went to Qatar.

"The security regime that surrounded the games simply meant that unless you were prepared to accept the arrangements that were there on the ground, you wouldn't have had physical access to the places where I needed to be [and] the meetings I needed to attend.

"While it wasn't the way we would have chosen to go to Qatar, it was unavoidable, if the visit was to discharge the purposes that were there for it.

"At every meeting that I attended, whether that was government ministers, businesses, arts organisations, interviews with local media there in Qatar, the issue of human rights, human values, workers' rights - those things were covered in every conceivable opportunity."

The Qatar government put Mark Drakeford and his economy minister up at the five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel


The Welsh government has repeatedly defended the trip, saying said the tournament gave it an opportunity to promote Wales on the world stage and to seek investment from Qatar.

Mr Drakeford said in November it was a "difficult and closely balanced decision" to go.

Asked about the arrangements for UK ministers, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: "The World Cup was a major international event and it is right that the UK government was represented.

"Details of the visit will be published in the usual way".

Mark Drakeford said he had to accept a five-star hospitality package to carry out his meetings in Qatar


Mark Drakeford says he emphasised human rights in his meetings in Qatar


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×