Qatar’s emir thanks Vladimir Putin for ‘great support’ over World Cup

Emir says he is proud of relationship with Russian ‘friends’ as 2022 World Cup chief reacts to prospect of One Love armband

SUMMIT: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, sit, during their meeting on sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Pic: Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik Kremlin/Pool Photo via AP

Qatar’s emir has thanked Vladimir Putin for Russia’s great support in organising the 2022 World Cup and said he is “proud” of the relationship between the two countries.

Russia has been a sporting and political pariah since the invasion of Ukraine but Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani went out of his way to praise Putin at a meeting between the men in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday .