Mark Drakeford admitted Wales’ appearance at the World Cup will be “undercut” by controversy around Qatar staging the event.
The hardline regime has been criticised for its treatment of gays - male homosexuality is illegal and carries a punishment of three years in prison - and the deaths of an estimated 6,500 migrant labourers in building the stadiums to host matches.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will attend to help ensure travelling British fans "remain safe", he insisted.
But Keir Starmer will boycott the tournament, saying that while he would “love to” go, “I think that the human rights record is such that I wouldn't go - and that'll be the position of the Labour Party.”
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First Minister Mr Drakeford admitted Wales’ presence at the tournament was “undercut by anxieties that people have about human rights, workers’ rights, LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar - there is no disguising the fact that also plays its part in shaping people’s feelings towards the World Cup”.
He said deciding whether to attend was a “genuinely challenging decision”.
“The arguments on either side are powerful - there is a very genuine case to be made for not going to Qatar,” he said.
“In the end - and Keir himself has said that he recognises that if you’re a government you are in a different position and have different responsibilities than if you are leading an opposition party - we go there because we think it is important for the government of Wales to be in Qatar alongside the governments from all the other nations who are there.
“If we are not there then we lose all those opportunities to promote Wales and to speak up for the things that matter to us.”
Vowing to use his trip to promote gay and workers’ rights at the sporting showpiece, he pledged to make the “positive case for the things we think are important”.
He added: “Another reason for us being there is to be able to explain to people the nature of Wales as a place - an open, tolerant, inclusive community where those rights matter to us.”
