The female architect behind designs for the new Al-Wakrah sports stadium has said critics who compared her plans to female genitalia are 'really embarrassing.'

Zaha Hadid has hit back against claims her designs for the stadium, which will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, resemble a woman's private parts insisting they were inspired by an ancient dhow boat.

Iraqi-born Hadid, who is considered one of the world's best female architects, also suggested the plans would not have faced the same criticism if they were designed by a man.

'It's really embarrassing they come up with nonsense stuff like this.

'What are they saying? Everything with a hole in it is a vagina? That's ridiculous,' she told Time.

Hadid, who won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 added 'if a guy had done this project' there wouldn't have been the same level of criticism.

The striking design is meant to resemble an ancient dhow boat that Qataris traditionally used for pearl diving.

But when plans were released for a new 45,000-capacity stadium to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup the first reaction was something different entirely.

As Qatar unveiled the stunning blueprints for its new state-of-the-art climate-controlled Al-Wakrah sports stadium, design went viral.

Thousands of fans posted tweets likening it to a woman's private parts - something that was almost certainly unintentional.

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