The 2022 Qatar World Cup will be a game-changer, tournament chief Hassan Al-Thawadi has declared, facing down the many skeptics voicing serious reservations about the gas-rich Gulf state hosting the showpiece.
Al-Thawadi, appearing at a sports business conference in New York, was grilled on Thursday on everything from corruption allegations dogging FIFA’s pick of Qatar to worries that fans would not be able to get enough alcohol at the first World Cup in the Middle East.
Other questions focused on criticism of working conditions for migrant construction workers and a likely move of the World Cup from summer to winter, a shift prompting howls from football leagues across the globe.
Al-Thawadi, who helped lead Qatar’s bid committee and oversees a massive building program in a country with little footballing infrastructure or history, sent a message of steely determination.
“We are going to be ready,” he said in an on-stage interview over 40 minutes, part of the Leaders Sport Business Summit.
“Hopefully, with every day that people see progress on the ground, they’ll come round to the idea that the 2022 event is a game-changer.”
Al-Thawadi reiterated Qatar’s winning bid – greeted with incredulity when announced in December 2010 – had not broken any rules, amid constant claims of corruption at the heart of FIFA, football’s world governing body.
“We have always maintained that we have full confidence in the integrity of our bid,” Al-Thawadi said.
He acknowledged there will be less alcohol than usual in 2022, but said fans will still be able to drink.
“Alcohol is available in Qatar, not as easily available as in other parts of the world, but it is available.
“It’s not an issue.”
The most recent controversy is over a FIFA task force’s decision to move the World Cup to the November-December timeframe to avoid Qatar’s brutal summer heat. A final decision is expected later this month.
Football officials throughout Europe complained winter would mess up the season for local leagues. The decision has also annoyed US broadcasters, angry at competition with the lucrative American football season.
Al-Thawadi said Qatar was planning to go forward with the summer games, but would comply with the final decision.
“Whatever the international football community decides, we’re in support of it,” he said.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Despite the short nature of his tenure as a professional manager, Arne Slot has established himself as arguably the most impressive manager outside of…
Everton won the Merseyside derby 2-0, with Toffees supporters taunting Liverpool after the game at their home ground Goodison Park.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have blasted a hole in Liverpool's Premier League title challenge as Everton powered their way to a priceless derby…
The real concern comes down to football's growing trend of big corporations taking up slices of the world game at the expense of smaller teams.
Round 25 was a weekend of football that had plenty of action. There were five games due to the Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide…
Arsenal fans were outraged that Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson got off scot-free for this challenge in the Gunners' 5-0 win.
