The Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Hassan al-Thawadi affirmed that the FIFA Club World Cup (Qatar 2019) is one of the most successful editions of the tournament throughout history in all aspects, especially on the popular and organisational sides, indicating that the FIFA evaluation of the tournament came positive in general and aimed to correct a few mistakes.
“Despite the great success that Qatar has achieved in organising the Club World Cup, we are not currently 100% ready to host the World Cup, but this success assured us that we are on the right track to prepare for presenting the best edition of the World Cup in 2022,” al-Thawadi said in
remarks to local media.
He said that, for Qatar, the Club World Cup is a pilot tournament aimed at experimenting various preparations and operational plans before hosting the World Cup in 2022.
He added that it is natural during the trial period to go through problems and things that must be rectified with the coming years, adding that some plans are significantly successful, others have succeeded but need some development, and some plans must be completely changed.
Al-Thawadi said he views the negative matters in the experimental tournaments as positive steps because they serve to raise awareness and help avoiding the negative aspects of some plans and the need to develop some others, especially with regard to the random flow of fans for stadiums, security systems, and the application of FIFA mechanisms that will be implemented during the World Cup period.
The lack of flow in the fans influx into and out of stadiums, as well as the delay outside the security cordon, are the biggest negatives that appeared during the FIFA Club World Cup period, al-Thawadi said stressing that it is one of the things that must be addressed during the coming period through communication with the public and sensitising them because they are one of the main factors in the success of safety and security plans.
Meanwhile, al-Thawadi stressed that the most prominent positive aspects of the championship is the success of the transportation plan in general, especially the use of the metro project, which is still under testing, in addition to the success of the co-ordination mechanism with all bodies in the country, which will be developed better in the coming years.
He explained that the experience of online sale of Club World Cup tickets was successful, though it faced some problems, pointing that the phenomenon of selling tickets on the black market is present all over the world, and that the committee is communicating with the competent authorities to issue a legislation criminalising this act.
Regarding the fireworks that took place in the matches of Tunisian Esperance, al-Thawadi emphasised that it is a phenomenon present in most of the world’s stadiums, and that it is difficult to completely prevent its entry into the stadiums, pointing out that it was an unprecedented incident in the
Qatari stadiums.
He also noted that the security personnel handled it in a professional, balanced and firm manner, and that legal measures were taken against the violators in co-ordination with the
Tunisian security authorities.
He affirmed that the Supreme Committee was keen to educate the outside world about our conservative Muslim and Arab society culture, which was evident in the attitude of the masses who came to Qatar to support their teams, stressing at the same time the necessity of having “confidence in ourselves regarding our customs and traditions and that the upcoming World Cup, which will be held for only 28 days, will not instil alien habits in our
society.”
Al-Thawadi said that the goal of hosting the World Championship in general is to provide a platform that brings together different peoples and cultures, to converge during the championship period and build relationships, as well as an opportunity to change world public opinion from the Arab world.
He emphasised that all the preparation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums is progressing according to the time schedule, despite some minor delays in only two stadiums, pointing out that 2020 will witness the opening of four of the World Cup stadiums, namely the Education City, Al Bayt, Al Rayyan, and Al Thumama
stadiums.
Al-Thawadi revealed that the promotional plans for the 2022 World Cup will increase in the coming years, stressing that the most important promotional plan is to draw the world’s attention to Qatar by hosting the most prominent world championships such as the Club World Cup.
He pointed out that SC’s decision not to hold Club World Cup matches in the Education City Stadium as scheduled, was due to the delay in obtaining some certificates that led to the not testing the operational plan, prompting SC to take this decision.
He stressed completion of all construction works in the stadium are as well as its readiness to host matches.
Al-Thawadi confirmed that the statements attributed to him and published by the British newspaper The Guardian were interpreted in a wrong way, and the issue was attributed in a wrong way.
The Guardian published in a report two days ago statements by al-Thawadi regarding measures that Qatar will soon be taking in terms of the sponsorship system and the minimum wages, and put a definitive end to the sponsorship system in Qatar next month, and an increase of 50% in the minimum wages.
“I am not authorised to speak about these matters, and when I returned to the journalist who wrote the report, he assured me that he based his report on a press conference held by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs which announced this matter, and not on my statements, as he also relied on an existing statement on the page of the International Labour Organisation that mentioned these matters.”
He expressed his great surprise at the reaction to this matter, especially that it was announced by the Qatari government officially months ago and is not the result of the moment.
Referring to the worker welfare, al-Thawadi stressed that “the SC has been keen from the beginning to apply the standards of worker welfare in a manner that complies with international law and standards and at the same time satisfies our consciences and principles that we draw from the Islamic religion, and also we apply them in a way that does not falter the work of national companies, so we were applying laws in a gradual manner and in which co-operation and partnership with companies providing services so that they adhere to the standards in a way that does not stumble them in the field of work or be a burden on them or affect their
companies and interests.
“The Education City Stadium is the biggest example of the balance between caring for workers and completing the work of local companies, as the SC was keen on balancing the interests of local companies in completing the project and the standards of worker welfare, so that it does not compromise on key criteria that preserve human dignity and at the same time complete the project works in a way that preserves the existing companies not to falter,” he said.
Al-Thawadi stressed that the SC was keen since its inception to support the national economy and the economic movement in the State, especially the national local companies, indicating that the committee stipulated during the tenders and construction work in the World Cup projects that the Qatari partner be the primary and the foreign partner is the secondary in the alliances, unlike in the previous alliances in which the foreign partner was the main and the Qatari was the secondary. (QNA)
Source:gulf-times.com
