Nasser Al Khater, CEO of Qatar 2022, stated on Thursday that Qatar has faced a tremendous deal of unwarranted criticism for hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022, which has been considered unfounded and unsupported by facts.
He stated at the first news conference held by the organizers in months that the sports and transportation infrastructure in the Gulf country was completed 70 days prior to the tournament’s start day and that the only work still needed was “aesthetic” finishing touches to tie the ribbon.
Speaking at Lusail Sadium, Al Khater said: “We think that a lot of the criticism has been unfair, not based on factual reality. Whatever we felt was fair criticism we have taken on board.”
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Speaking to Doha News in late June, Al Khater quelled concerns on whether Qatar is prepared with just five months to go, saying: “Stadiums are ready, training sites are ready, all the transportation plans are in place.”
Pointing to the last minute “window dressing” of the preparation for the World Cup, Al Khater said final touches are being made “to welcome the fans.”
The World Cup has “transformed the country over the past 10 years. The development we’ve seen has been accelerated, [which] was part of the 2030 vision, the development of the country, diversification away from the hydrocarbon industry, and the World Cup has been underpinning this development,” Al Khater explained.
One of the key objectives for the World Cup back in 2010, was to “really design the legacy of the stadium prior to designing the stadium itself,” he said before a panel discussion at this year’s Qatar Economic Forum.
Addressing some of the incessant criticism Qatar has received since being placed under the international spotlight after winning the bid to host the major tournament, Al Khater told Doha News: “The criticism has been there from 2009 when we started bidding for the World Cup and has continued and has really become more ferocious as time went by.”
“I’m fully confident that by the time the World Cup starts it’s all gonna be about football,” the major sporting CEO added.
It follows similar statements made by Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May, who shed light on the unfair criticism surrounding the Gulf country by the west.
“The Middle East has endured discrimination for decades. And I’ve discovered that a lot of this prejudice stems from people not knowing us or, in certain circumstances, not wanting to know us, added Sheikh Tamim.
However, Qatar has recently enacted significant measures in an effort to guarantee the respect and upholding of employees’ rights.
Dismantling the contentious Kafala system, which prohibited employees from freely changing occupations, was one among the reforms. Another is the first-ever non-discriminatory minimum wage rule that was implemented in the area last year.
