REVEALED: Dua Lipa’s father spent two years negotiating to get the chart-topping star to play at the World Cup in Qatar – as she cracked down on his anti-gay laws
When pop queen Dua Lipa quashed rumors that she would be performing in Qatar, her duet partner and LGBT champion Sir Elton John no doubt applauded.
However, emails reveal that their manager father, Dukagjin Lipa, spent two years negotiating with the Qataris to land the chart star for the World Cup.
The documents detail how the singer’s Kosovo-born father, known as Dugi, first approached Qatar’s World Cup organizing body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in 2020.
“I am representing my daughter, artist Dua Lipa, and I am very interested in discussing with the Supreme Committee artist performance plans for the World Cup in Qatar 2022,” he wrote on March 9 of this year.
When pop queen Dua Lipa quashed rumors that she would be performing in Qatar, her duet partner and LGBT champion Sir Elton John no doubt applauded. However, emails reveal that their manager father, Dukagjin Lipa, spent two years negotiating with the Qataris to land the chart star for the World Cup
As of January 2021, the singer’s 53-year-old father, who runs communications agency Republika, was still hoping to convince organizers to give his daughter a tournament spot, saying: “I just wanted to follow up on my previous email and was wondering , would it be possible for us to discuss every opportunity that arises where we can help?
“We recently streamed a live performance of tracks from Dua’s new album as well as performances by other artists to 5 million viewers, which was the largest ever for a live stream event globally.”
A committee member replied: “It’s fantastic to hear from you and to know that Dua is proposed, helped by the knowledge that she is also interested.”
The documents detail how the singer’s Kosovo-born father, known as Dugi, first approached Qatar’s World Cup organizing body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in 2020
In April this year, Mr Lipa expressed his concerns about the negotiations, saying: “I was approached with a specific request about Dua Lipa and the opening ceremony and I wanted to get in touch with you regarding this and make sure we don’t talk to those.” wrong person.’
The Mail on Sunday revelations cast doubt on London-born Dua Lipa’s recent statement, shared to her 87million followers on Instagram, claiming an appearance at the tournament in Qatar was never an option.
Last month, the 27-year-old singer said: “There is a lot of speculation at the moment that I will perform at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar. I will not perform and have never been involved in negotiations for a performance.’
Her comments were welcomed by human rights activists after the football tournament sparked controversy over Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and the criminalization of same-sex relationships. In an interview with Variety last week, the Cold Heart singer – who recently duetted with Sir Elton on stage in Los Angeles – said the Qatar event was “opposite”. [her] beliefs’.
The Mail on Sunday revelations cast doubt on London-born Dua Lipa’s recent statement, shared to her 87million followers on Instagram, claiming a performance at the Qatar tournament is never in sight
Last night the pop star’s father claimed his daughter was unaware of his contact with the Qataris.
“During 2020 I had several email exchanges with the Qatar World Cup marketing team,” Mr Lipa said. ‘Dua was not involved or aware of this exchange or any other conversations.
“This was … at a time when Qatar had made several pledges to reform its labor laws and change its human rights record.
“As the World Cup approached it became very clear that those promises would not be kept, so I stopped talking to them. Since then I have been approached by several people connected to the World Cup in Qatar to whom I have made it very clear that Dua would not be involved.