Seven days before the World Cup is due to start in Qatar, former Germany captain Philipp Lahm says it was “a mistake" to award the tournament to the Gulf Arab country.

Lahm, who is head of Germany’s organizing committee for the 2024 European Championship, wrote Sunday in a column for Zeit Online that the World Cup “does not belong" in Qatar and he criticized the human rights situation in the nation.

Lahm acknowledged some progress “but homosexuals are still being criminalized, women do not have the same rights as men, and there are restrictions on freedom of the press and expression." He added that conditions for migrant workers are “devastating."