![]() ![]() The now largely discredited committee of FIFA executives that voted by a majority for Qatar overlooked concerns about the heat. Qatar bid for the World Cup under FIFA’s terms for the usual June-July slot, with the schedule change only decided after the vote. 18, remains contentious as the major European leagues finalize the starting dates for a season so significantly disrupted for the first time by the World Cup. “So this has been taken into consideration to make sure that there’s plentiful accommodation and there’s accommodation available for all budgets.”įans will be traveling months later than usual for the World Cup. “The ultimate goal is to have a successful World Cup and you can only have a successful World Cup when you have fans attending,” Al Khater said. What helps fans is being able to stay in neighboring countries, including the United Arab Emirates, after they lifted an economic, diplomatic and travel boycott of Qatar this year that had been running since 2017. Even though it’s a World Cup requiring no flights between games, demand for accommodation could be stretched in the tiny Gulf nation. The challenge for supporters could still be affording the trip. I mean, anybody is free to stay in a hotel, whether with their friend, with their partner.” “I don’t know where you know, where you get this from. “I don’t know if this is a misconception,” he said. ![]() “They can come and enjoy their time here without fear of any sort of repercussions, it makes no difference to people’s (sexual) orientation, religion, creed, race whatsoever.”Īl Khater said any couple could share a hotel room. “Everybody is welcome to come to Qatar and have an enjoyable time at the World Cup,” Al Khater said. Hamilton is wearing a rainbow-colored helmet in Qatar to draw attention to the anti-LGBTQ+ laws that World Cup organizers effectively suggest won’t be enforced during the tournament. Nearby is also the Losail International Circuit where Formula One defending world champion Lewis Hamilton said ahead of Sunday’s inaugural Qatar Grand Prix that the country still has a “long way to go” on ensuring equality. Seven venues are now ready to stage matches, with Stadium 974 built using that number of shipping containers to be inaugurated later this month at the FIFA Arab Cup that is serving as a test event for the World Cup.Ī 40-minute drive north takes fans to the 80,000-capacity Losail Stadium that will stage the final on Dec. “All eight stadiums for the World Cup are complete,” Al Khater said. ![]() The building work is starting to wind down. Denmark has said its training kit in Qatar will feature critical human rights messages, ensuring the tournament will feature player activism. Twelve countries, as well as Qatar as host, have so far secured qualification for the 32-team event. There is, however, a lot of progress but unfortunately that has not been captured in reports such as Amnesty, Human Rights Watch.” Amnesty International has highlighted the need for deeper investigations into the cause of deaths, the lack of a right to form unions and the need for all companies to comply with newer laws saying workers should be allowed to leave jobs without permission of the employer. Qatar has not provided full details and data on the deaths of the migrant workers, particularly from South Asia, who are relied on to build the infrastructure across the country. In some cases it was the World Cup organising committee introducing changes before the country as a whole, but the enforcement of laws and conditions facing workers - particularly in the fierce summer heat - remains a source of concern for groups. “You take it into context of the region,” Al Khater told reporters, “I think Qatar is a trailblazer right now with all the reform that it’s done, whether it’s on worker standards, accommodation standards, the introduction of minimum wage.” That scrutiny, though, has produced improvements to labour laws under the weight of criticism of working conditions since a reported $200 billion of upgrades to the country’s infrastructure began after the FIFA vote in December 2010. “Qatar has been unfairly treated and scrutinised for a number of years,” organising committee CEO Nasser Al Khater said Saturday. The 2022 World Cup has been preserved after fending off hostility from neighbors, corruption investigations and concerns about worker abuses.Īnd a clock on the Corniche waterfront in the Qatari capital was unveiled on Sunday to count down one year until kickoff.Įxpect another 12 months of pressure from rights groups - fuelled by player protests - and indignation from some World Cup organisers. The eight stadiums - all within a 30-mile radius of Doha - are now largely complete. ![]()
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