Qatar is adding a finishing touch to seal the ribbon at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November.
In an exclusive interview with Doha News, a bystander of this year’s Qatar Economic Forum, FIFA World Cup Qatar CEO Nasser Al-Hatter has long been a major event before Qatar won the bid to host the tournament in 2010. Said it was a regional sports hub hosting.
“In 2006, we hosted the first major event, the 2006 Asian Games. Since then, it has hosted more than 600 international and regional events. Looking at sports, the World Cup is clearly the largest, but we have held the next 10 World Championships in Handball, World Championships in Athletics, and Formula 1. For years, “Al Hutter elaborated.
“Qatar is and will continue to be a regional powerhouse of sport,” he told Doha News, suggesting that the Gulf countries will continue to host sporting events after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
While working on a major football tournament in a panel discussion at QEF, Al Khater pointed out that it will enhance Qatar’s brand value and become a tourist destination as a key indicator of World Cup success.
“There is no direct return when it comes to the return of the World Cup. Being an intangible return, the first major things are brand, brand value, and tourism growth, which tourism friends have achieved. The goal is to increase the number of tourists here in Qatar, “he said.
“Really it is to increase the brand value of Qatar and making it a tourism destination is two major indicators of the success of the World Cup here in Qatar.”
Also attending a session entitled “Sports and Tourism: Win-Win for National Growth,” Global Counsel Gregor Irwin CEO said the World Cup is a unique moment for Qatar. rice field.
“How do you take advantage of that unique moment? The secret is to start early, focus on the event itself, and actually follow through,” says Irwin.
Al-Hatter told Doha News that he was concerned about whether Qatar would be ready in the next five months: “The stadium is ready, the training site is ready and all transportation plans are in place. “.
Pointing to the final “window dressing” of the preparation for the World Cup, Al Hatter said that the final finishing touches were done “to welcome the fans”.
The World Cup “has transformed the country in the last decade. The development we have seen has accelerated, [which] Part of the vision for 2030, the development of the country and the diversification from the hydrocarbon industry, the World Cup has supported this development, “explained Al Khater.
One of the main goals of the 2010 World Cup was “to actually design the stadium’s heritage before designing the stadium itself,” he told the panel.
As a preparatory step, relevant authorities visited several areas of Qatar and came up with ideas about the needs of the community to understand these factors for stadium construction.
“We decided to incorporate it into the stadium, depending on the location of the stadium and what the community needed at the time,” said Al Khater.
As an example, in the case of the Arjanube Stadium in the southern part of the country, the community in the area “needed more leisure activities, community centers and wedding halls”, so authorities said through investigations and site visits that the needs of the community were raised. Make sure it is satisfied.
Also, after Qatar won the bid to host a major tournament, Nacelle al-Hatter addressed Doha News, addressing some of the constant criticisms it has received since it gained international attention. Said. Over time, it continued and became truly ferocious. “
“By the time the World Cup begins, I’m confident that everything will be about football,” said the chief sports CEO.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Altani shed light on unjustified criticism of the Western Gulf countries over the 2022 World Cup.
“For decades, the Middle East has suffered from discrimination, and I refuse to know us in some cases, as such discrimination is primarily based on those who do not know us. I found that I was there, “said Sheikh Tamim.
Doha faces international oversight of the situation of migrant workers in the country and the lack of laws to protect them. However, Gulf countries have introduced historic reforms over the past few years to ensure that workers’ rights are respected and upheld.
Some reforms included the dismantling of the controversial Kafala system, which prevented workers from changing jobs freely. The other is the region’s first non-discriminatory minimum wage law, introduced last year.
