Dua Lipa’s father negotiated for two years to get the star to play at the Qatar World Cup

When queen of pop Dua Lipa quelled rumors that she would be performing in Qatar, her duo partner and LGBT champion Sir Elton John no doubt cheered.

However, the emails reveal that his father, manager Dukagjin Lipa, had been negotiating with the Qataris for two years for the chart-topping star to play in the World Cup.

The documents detail how the Kosovo-born singer’s father, known as Dugi, first approached Qatar’s World Cup organizing body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in 2020.

“I represent my daughter, the artist Dua Lipa, and I am looking forward to discussing with the Supreme Committee the plans for the artists’ performances for the Qatar 2022 World Cup,” he wrote on March 9 of that year.

When queen of pop Dua Lipa quelled rumors that she would be performing in Qatar, her duo partner and LGBT champion Sir Elton John no doubt cheered. However, the emails reveal that her manager’s father, Dukagjin Lipa, had been negotiating with the Qataris for two years for the chart-topping star to play in the World Cup.

By January 2021, the 53-year-old singer’s father, who runs the Republika communications agency, was still hoping to persuade organizers to give his daughter a place in the tournament, saying: “I just wanted to follow up on my previous email and I was wondering if it would be possible for us to discuss any opportunities that arise where we can be of assistance?

“We recently broadcast a live performance of tracks from Dua’s new album as well as appearances by other artists which had 5 million viewers, which was the largest globally for a live streaming event.”

A committee member responded: “It’s great to hear from you and to know that Dua’s proposal is supported by the knowledge that she is interested too.”

The documents detail how the Kosovo-born singer’s father, known as Dugi, first approached Qatar’s World Cup organizing body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in 2020.

In April of that year, Mr. Lipa expressed his anxiety about the negotiations, saying: “I was contacted…with a specific request for Dua Lipa and the opening ceremony and I wanted to contact you about this and make sure that we are not talking”. to the wrong person.

Revelations from The Mail on Sunday cast doubt on London-born Dua Lipa’s recent statement posted to her 87 million followers on Instagram, claiming that a performance at the Qatar tournament was never in the cards.

Last month, the 27-year-old singer said: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will perform at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar.” I will not act and I have never been involved in any negotiations to act.’

His comments were applauded by human rights activists, after controversy surrounded the soccer tournament over Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and the criminalization of same-sex relationships. In an interview last week with Variety, the Cold Heart singer, who recently duetted with Sir Elton onstage in Los Angeles, said the Qatar event “goes against [her] beliefs’.

Revelations from The Mail on Sunday cast doubt on London-born Dua Lipa’s recent statement released to her 87 million followers on Instagram, claiming that a performance at the Qatar tournament was never in the cards.

Last night, the pop star’s father claimed his daughter was unaware of his contact with the Qataris.

“In 2020, I had several email exchanges with the Qatar World Cup marketing team,” Lipa said. ‘Dua was not involved in or aware of those exchanges or any other conversations.

‘This was…at a time when Qatar had made several promises to reform its labor laws and amend its human rights record.

“As the World Cup approached, it became very clear that these promises were not going to be fulfilled, so I stopped talking to them. Since then I have been approached by several people connected with the Qatar World Cup who I made very clear that Dua would not be involved with them.”