In an interview with the BBC Al-Thawadi responded to the numerous criticism from abroad of the World Cup in his country Qatar, especially from human rights organizations. “There have been statements by some people who I think are ill-informed.”
Qatar has been under criticism practically since the World Cup was awarded – because of the poor human rights situation in the country, especially the situation of migrant workers on the World Cup construction sites. According to research by the Guardian, 6,500 construction workers are said to have died there, and ZDF even spoke of 15,000 deaths in connection with the World Cup.
Al-Thawadi: “We shouldn’t apologize for the World Cup”
Despite all the international criticism, most recently from the Norwegian association president Lisa Klaveness, FIFA under President Gianni Infantino stuck to the World Cup award, which was controversial from the start – and thus prepared the big stage for the desert state: “We shouldn’t apologize for our ambitions to host this World Cup.”Al-Thawadi told the BBC.
“We are just as crazy about football as the rest of the world. It is only legitimate that we show this to the world in order to change the perception of our country.” Linked to this is probably Qatar’s hope of gaining more importance in world politics in the future as a host of the World Cup.
The accusation that is often made, with the biggest football festival sports washing to operate, the World Cup General Secretary firmly rejected: “Nothing could be further from the truth.”