We are committed to safest possible and most secure World Cup: Security operations commander

The safety and security of all participants in the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been emphasized by H E Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, the tournament’s security operations commander. He also emphasized that Qatari fans, citizens, and residents are the committee’s main partners in making sure the competition is the safest possible and most secure in the history of all sporting events.

Sheikh Khalifa told QNA that organizing such a sizable international event required full readiness at all levels of logistics, personnel, and technology.

“In line with the security strategy developed for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the tournament’s Security and Safety Operations Committee implemented a series of plans, programmes, training courses, and joint exercises to raise the capabilities of the security staff. One of the most important programmes was the Sports Crowd Security and Safety Programme, which was specifically designed to train government and private security.”

He noted that the programme included several training sessions, such as (Stadium Security and Safety, Security Sense, Crowd Management, Human Rights, First Aid, and Cooperation with the Crowds).

According to him, other programmes included the Tournament Policies and Procedures, which covered facility evacuation simulations and training on how to deal with possible scenarios and were conducted in cooperation with specialised experts from the European Police and Europol.

“These programmes went beyond what is required by FIFA. In total, 32,000 individuals from government security and 17,000 individuals from private security have participated in these programs. To further increase our readiness, we have tested the security plans by implementing several simulations, in-office and on-the-ground, the most recent of which was the organization of the Watan (Homeland) exercise in November 2021, with the participation of numerous civil and military entities and forces from outside the State of Qatar, as well as FIFA stakeholders,” he added.

Sheikh Khalifa said that the exercise included implementing scenarios designed to simulate various tasks and activities that will be taking place during the tournament, adding that the scenarios are aligned with the competencies of the parties participating in the exercise and that the aim of the exercise was to ensure operational readiness and joint coordination among all parties.

“This exercise has succeeded in enhancing the integration of roles between civil and military entities. This was achieved by activating appropriate command and control processes and communication plans, measuring the speed of response to emergencies, testing the availability of various resources, and piloting security plans based on the desired goals, according to specific performance indicators that aim to make this tournament the safest possible and most secure of all sporting events in the world,” he added.

Sheikh Khalifa noted that preparations are underway to hold the “Watan 2” exercise in October, which will include different scenarios in different locations.

“The exercise aims to further improve performance and ensure high levels of internal communication between the civil and military stakeholders and the participating forces from outside of Qatar,” he said.

He stressed that the various sporting events Qatar has hosted in the past few years have been the real tests of the readiness and preparedness of the cadres, stadiums, apparatuses, and modern security technologies that will be used during the World Cup.

“The tournament’s Security and Safety Operations Committee has also evaluated the practicality of the various plans and programmes by taking full advantage of these previous events, as we focused on their outcomes and the lessons learned to avoid any negative experiences and amplify the positive ones. This interactive process has been put in place to ensure the overall security of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” he added.

On international cooperation, he said that the “committee works in an integrated manner with its regional and international partners to ensure a smooth exchange of information and expertise in the security domains. In this regard, agreements and MOUs have been signed with various countries and international organizations such as Interpol, the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), and Europol. We have made all these agreements because cooperation with various international specialised police organisations and agencies is invaluable to implementing security-best practices across all aspects of the tournament.”

On cooperation with friendly nations, Sheikh Khalifa said, “First, we must emphasize that  Qatar is home to highly qualified and trained police and security competencies and can ensure the security of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and all relevant activities. We also engaged other international security forces to further exchange and implement expertise. Our collective aim is security excellence.”

“We have signed several security agreements, MOUs, and Memorandums of Cooperation (MOCs) with countries that have specialised forces to provide support in securing the event if needed. These forces will work under a Qatari security command to ensure a unified effort that adheres to the established security plans, “he added.

In terms of appraising our collaboration with international security forces, we are incredibly grateful for their unwavering commitment to the success of this event. Their participation in drills, readiness checks, and security simulations like Watan Exercise and The Last Mile Security Conference for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 were clear indications of this.

To provide the greatest possible organization for this significant international sporting event, we will keep working with everyone. According to him, “we continue to receive inquiries from many nations expressing their willingness to take part in securing the tournament to enrich their own domestically-hosted events by growing their experience, competence, and knowledge of administering important athletic events.”