Alkass Digital
Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), H E Hassan Al Thawadi, affirmed that the FIFA Club World Cup (Qatar 2019) is one of the most successful editions of the tournament throughout its history in all aspects, especially on the popular and organisational sides, indicating that the FIFA evaluation of the tournament came positive in general and aimed to correct a few mistakes.
Despite the great success that Qatar has achieved in organising the Club World Cup, we are not currently 100 percent ready to host the World Cup, but this success assured us that we are on the right track to prepare for presenting the best edition of the World Cup in 2022, Al Thawadi told local media.
The SC Secretary-General stated that, for Qatar, the Club World Cup is a pilot tournament aimed at experimenting various preparations and operational plans before hosting the World Cup in 2022.
He emphasised that all the preparation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums is progressing according to the time schedule, despite some minor delays in only two stadiums, pointing out that next year 2020 will witness the opening of four of the World Cup stadiums, which are the Education City; Al Bayt; Al Rayyan; and Al Thumama Stadiums.
He added that it is natural during the trial period to go through problems and things that must be rectified with the coming years, adding that some plans are significantly successful, others have succeeded but need some development, and some plans must be completely changed.
Al Thawadi said he views the negative matters in the experimental tournaments as positive steps because they serve to raise awareness and help avoiding the negative aspects of some plans and the need to develop some others, especially with regard to the random flow of fans for stadiums, security systems, and the application of FIFA mechanisms that will be implemented during the World Cup period.
The lack of flow in the fans influx into and out of stadiums, as well as the delay outside the security cordon, are the biggest negatives that appeared during the FIFA Club World Cup period, Al Thawadi said, stressing that it is one of the things that must be addressed during the coming period through communication with the public and sensitizing them because they are one of the main factors in the success of safety and security plans.
Meanwhile, Al Thawadi stressed that the most prominent positive aspects of the championship is the success of the transportation plan in general, especially the use of the metro project, which is still under testing, in addition to the success of the coordination mechanism with all bodies in the country, which will be developed better in the coming years.
H E Hassan Al Thawadi explained that the experience of Club World Cup tickets online selling was successful, though it faced some problems, pointing that the phenomenon of selling tickets on the black market is present all over the world, and that the committee is communicating with the competent authorities to issue a legislation criminalizing this act.
H E Al Thawadi touched on the fireworks that were launched in the matches of Tunisian Esperance, as he emphasized that it is a phenomenon present in most of the world’s stadiums, and that it is difficult to completely prevent its entry to the stadiums, pointing that it was an unprecedent incident in the Qatari stadiums. He also noted that the security personnel handled it in a professional, balanced and firm manner, and that legal measures were taken against the violators in coordination with the Tunisian security authorities.
He affirmed that the Supreme Committee was keen to educate the outside world about our conservative Muslim and Arab society culture, which was evident in the attitude of the masses who came to Qatar to support their teams, stressing at the same time the necessity of having “confidence in ourselves regarding our customs and traditions and that the upcoming World Cup, which will be held for only 28 days, will not instill alien habits in our society.” Al Thawadi revealed that the promotional plans for the 2022 World Cup will increase in the coming years, stressing that the most important promotional plan is to draw the world’s attention to Qatar by hosting the most prominent world championships such as the Club World Cup.
He pointed out that SC’s decision not to hold Club World Cup matches in the Education City Stadium as scheduled, was due to the delay in obtaining some certificates that led to the not testing the operational plan, prompting SC to take this decision. He stressed completion of all construction works in the stadium are as well as its readiness to host matches.
Referring to the worker welfare, Al Thawadi stressed that “the SC has been keen from the beginning to apply the standards of worker welfare in a manner that complies with international law and standards and at the same time satisfies our consciences and principles that we draw from the Islamic religion, and also we apply them in a way that does not falter the work of national companies, so we were applying Laws in a gradual manner and in which cooperation and partnership with companies providing services so that they adhere to the standards in a way that does not stumble them in the field of work or be a burden on them or affect their companies and interests.