QNA
Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) Hassan Al Thawadi underlined that the next FIFA World Cup (Qatar 2022) will be distinctive and exceptional, and that the State of Qatar seeks to engage all the peoples of the region.
Al Thawadi was speaking at an open discussion held in the framework of the Global Security Conference, currently in session in the State of Qatar, to talks about the World Cup Qatar and the most prominent problems encountered due to spreading false news, lies and many rumors related to the World Cup.
“When the State of Qatar decided to host the World Cup, it was planning to make it for the whole region and the Arab world not only for Qatar,” Al Thawadi said.
“This has been our vision since 2010 until 2017. To work with the region and to engage the companies in the Middle East in this event. However, after imposing the unjust blockade on the State of Qatar, we carried out a thorough re-evaluation of the supply chain, suppliers and companies associated with the implementation of the World Cup projects. We faced a great challenge in finding alternatives, but we quickly succeeded in finding other partners in Turkey and Malaysia,” he said.
He underlined that the State of Qatar has benefited greatly from the blockade crisis, as dealing with companies other than Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the World Cup projects saved a lot of cost and increased the quality of work.
Al Thawadi stressed that Qatar’s vision of engaging all the peoples of the region in the 2022 World Cup is still valid, noting the volunteer program launched last November, which registered 206 thousand people, including many from the blockading countries, which confirms the desire of the people of the region to participate in the World Cup Qatar.
On Qatar’s ability to organise a distinctive and ideal World Cup in spite of the blockade, HE Al Thawadi affirmed his belief in Qatar’s ability to make miracles and provide an ideal version of the World Cup. He noted that Qatar’s relationship with three of its neighbors has worsened, but it is not isolated from the international community and has significant and distinctive relations with many other countries. This is evident from the fact that many Asian teams have taken Qatar as a base for their training and preparations before the last Asian Cup.
Al Thawadi noted that the opening of Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah attracted a large number of volunteers who came from different countries of the region from all segments of society and age groups, in order to be part of this event.
Speaking about the infrastructure and facilities accompanying the World Cup, he said: “We have proposed 8 stadiums. We have now two stadiums ready and one that will be ready in the first quarter of next year. The rest will be ready in 2021. As for the metro system, we started in 2010 and the network is currently ready. Highways will be ready in the first quarter of 2020.”
With regard to information systems, Al Thawadi said: “We have exceeded FIFA requirements and we have today the 5G technology. In addition, all the infrastructure of the training pitches is available, and we are talking about more than 40 training pitches we use in the various tournaments we host.”
As for the World Cup threats, Al Thawadi explained that Qatar should be cautious, and any major sporting tournament usually has security risks. “Therefor, we formed a security committee seven or eight years ago, and we have relations with all the security agencies like Interpol and the NSA,” he noted.
He added that world tournaments are generally tense among fans, so the SC is working with security agencies from many countries to ensure the security of all the fans who will be present at this tournament.
In conclusion, Al Thawadi underlined that the State of Qatar hosts major championships and achieves high success. The State is able to organise tournaments that satisfy the fans and contribute to the development of peoples and the societies in the region.