Qatar is spending $500 million a week on the country’s infrastructure to ensure it is prepared to host the 2022 World Cup.

The country’s finance minister Ali Shareef Al-Emadi said that over $200 billion will be spent in total on stadiums, roads, a new airport and hospitals.

“We are spending close to $500m per week on capital projects,” he told journalists.

“And this will carry on for the next three to four years to achieve our goal and objective of really getting the country ready for 2022.

“Ninety per cent of the 2022 contracts have already been awarded.

“That doesn’t mean the stadiums only, we are talking about highways, rail, ports, airports, those are really underway, even hospitals and everything.

“We are really giving ourselves a good chance of delivering things on time and we don’t want to get in a place that we start painting while people are coming to the country.”

Qatar has come under fierce criticism over living and working conditions for workers since being awarded the 2022 World Cup in a contentious vote six years ago.