Hassan al-Thawadi: ‘A clear bias’ against Qatar

From the moment in December 2010 when Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, critics have called for the Gulf state to be stripped of its right to host football’s biggest tournament.
 
Qatar has since faced allegations of corrupt practices during the bid process.
 
FIFA, the sport’s governing body, commissioned an investigation into all the countries involved in bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

I can't say if there is a prejudice against Qatar, but what I can say is there is a clear bias.

by Hassan al-Thawadi

Headed by American lawyer Michael Garcia, a summary of his findings as presented by FIFA cleared Qatar of any serious wrongdoing. But Garcia later resigned and recanted the report, saying the summary FIFA made public was incomplete and did not accurately reflect the facts and conclusions of his own report.
 
And these are not the only concerns for Qatar.
 
The country is accused of exploiting workers and of still not having the required stadium cooling technology that would make a summer World Cup possible.

The organisers of the World Cup have responded by developing a charter that they say ensures the wellbeing of all their workers. It is supposed to protect them against forced labour, for example, and make sure their wages are paid on time.

But there are still complaints. An Amnesty International report published in November said that while workers lived in high quality accomodation, issues remained with their overtime payments and some workers were not in possession of their passports.

Amnesty also said that several promises by the government to change the labour rules in Qatar have still not been implemented or published This despite reports six months earlier by the UN Human Rights Council urging Qatar to step up efforts to prevent human rights abuses.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the man in charge of organising the Qatar World Cup 2022, talks to Al Jazeera.