German Football League (DFL) president Reinhard Rauball has claimed that he has been urged by Qatar 2022 World Cup organisers to stop levelling criticism against the human rights situation in the Gulf state.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been under major scrutiny ever since the Gulf state won the bid in December 2010.
While in recent weeks the alleged corruption in the bidding contests for the 2022 and also the 2018 World Cup in Russia dominated the headlines, DFL president Rauball has turned the spotlight onto the working conditions and human rights situation in Qatar again.
They had last been in the headlines last month, when a high-ranking FIFA employee told German paper Die Welt that the tournament could be taken away from Qatar, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted that the Gulf State will not be stripped of the 2022 World Cup.
"The decision [for Qatar] will not be challenged," Blatter said at that time.
"We are convinced that the working conditions in Qatar will rapidly improve. The discussion alone shows how important football can be to raise awareness and, through that, also ignite sustainable changes."
The FIFA president also said that one "shall not forget that big European companies have invested in Qatar, and they also have a responsibility for humane working conditions."
Speaking to Sport Bild, DFL president Rauball has now hinted at potential pressure from Qatar for those companies, should the criticism of the human rights situation in the Gulf state not cease.
"Qatari Sheik [Tamin bin Hamad] al-Thani [the reigning Emir of Qatar] visited Germany two weeks ago, and he made it very clear what could happen should we overwork that issue," Rauball said.
Sport Bild added that "German companies could be replaced," something the DFL president did not deny.
"But it does not stop me to continue to level criticism," Rauball continued. "We still have no evidence that the working conditions and the human rights situation have changed for the better in Qatar.
"An independent authority has to examine it. Human rights must have top priority -- especially above the question whether to stage the World Cup in the summer or in the winter."
In 2013, a Guardian report revealed regular fatalities and maltreatment of migrant workers at the 2022 World Cup construction sites.