Rod Stewart says he turned down $1 million to perform at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Stewart told the British newspaper, The Times, that “it’s not right to go" to Qatar to celebrate the World Cup.
The country has faced backlash ahead of the sporting event due to allegations of mistreatment of the LGBT community and foreign workers.
Several soccer players have spoken out about the human rights record in the Middle East country.
“As players, we fully support the rights of the LBTQI+ people, but in Qatar, people are not free to love the person that they choose," said a member of the Australian national team in a video.
The U.S. National Team redesigned its soccer crest at its training facility in Qatar to feature the pride colors to show support for the LGBT community.
Qatar has dismissed criticism of the country's human rights record as "unequivocally false."
The World Cup will begin on Nov. 20.
