Accra-Ghana, Nov. 17, GNA – The state of Qatar has received tones of commendations from the international community, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, following the impressive reforms and developments made in preparation for the world cup.
The small, but mighty gulf nation, had never had it easy, since they were handed the hosting rights by FIFA, with threats of boycotts by some countries, allegations of bribery in voting to poor treatment of workers working on various sites of the world cup, but they had prevailed and now receiving applauds from all corners.
And from all indications, the stage is set for the biggest event in one of the smallest countries in the world to host the biggest single sport in the world, the world cup, with James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, confirmation his participation and attendance of the event, saying “I would be going, for a number of reasons, because as foreign secretary, it is my job to ensure British fans stay safe,” he told the sky sports in an interview.
Cleverly called for respect for the laws of Qatar, by every football fan, amidst protests by LGBT+ activists, but this called had been reiterated by Hugo Lloris, Captain of the French national team, who insists the laws of Qatar must be respected by all.
“We are in France, when we welcome foreigners, we often want them to follow our rules, to respect our culture, and I will do the same when I go to Qatar, quiet simply,” he indicated.
On the back of these assertions, was a support call for Qatar by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Hadja Lahbib, expressed the need to separate politics from sports, and called for the need to support Qatar in their efforts to improve workers conditions, adding that most European countries would send ministerial delegations to Qatar to witness the event.
“Not attending the world cup would be completely ineffective and ideological,” Lahbib told the Belgian Newspaper La Dermierre Heure in an interview.
Besides, these two high profile personalities, Qatar has received the backing of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) having worked closely with them since 2014, after they had established an office in Doha, since signing agreement with the Qatari government in 2014.
With attacks from sections of the western media over alleged poor treatment of migrant workers, the labour front had seen massive reforms after Qatar worked closely with ILO to grant workers the freedom to change jobs, timely wage payments, providing safety policy and access to freedom, as well as provision of workers with the right to be heard and have their grievances addressed and the institution of fairer recruitment changes in the labour laws.
But His Highness, The Amir Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al Thani in reacting to criticisms, in his interview with French magazine with Le Point published on 14th September 2014 said “There are two kinds of criticism. Most of the time, we see it as advice, or an alert, and we take it seriously. For example, we realised that we had a problem with work on construction sites, and we took strong measures in record time.
“We changed the law and punish anyone who mistreats an employee; we’ve opened our doors to NGOs, and we cooperate with them. We are proud of that. And then there is the second category of criticism, the one that continues no matter what we do.
“These are people who do not accept that an Arab Muslim country like Qatar is hosting the World Cup. They will find any excuse to denigrate us. It is obvious that, the initial criticisms are not genuine”.
On the other hand, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, had said in previous presentations that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was a chance for the Gulf region to push back against “prejudice” adding that “the four-week tournament in Qatar, offers an opportunity for Qatar and the whole region to present itself to the world in another light, another way, and get rid I think once and for all of some of the prejudice that sadly still exists,”.
And this had been re-echoed by President of CAF, Dr. Patrice Motsepe saying, “We recognize that football has over the years been an important tool for bringing together and uniting people from different races, language groups and religious backgrounds”.
Making references to his term as the Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Danny Jordaan, drew comparisons between his country and Qatar, saying South Africa received the same amount of criticism.
“A lot of attacks came from Afro-pessimists, but we were going to show the world that there was no difference in being African and being world class.
“Now Qatar is pushing the 2022 event as a regional event, as one for the Middle East and North Africa. They must be ready for those challenges, and it would be difficult,” he noted.
Similar sentiments have been expressed by Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the State of Qatar, Mr. John Wilkes who sees the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup as a golden opportunity to alter impressions about the Middle East, bridge the cultural gap with the West, and build new bridges to introduce the world to Arab and Islamic culture,, whilst Ambassador of China to Qatar Zhou Jian believes Qatar was capable of hosting a wonderful World Cup with ‘unique Arab style’.
In addition, Jonathan Muir Australian Ambassador to Qatar affirmed that Qatar’s investment in sport stadiums and advanced facilities would ensure that players and fans attend a world-class tournament during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA).
Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Conference (ITUC), an ardent and viral critic of Qatar now endorses eses which claims to represent 200 million workers worldwide and led efforts to encourage Qatar to improve conditions for migrant workers, said the energy-rich Gulf state had made “incredible progress”.
“We said in 2015 there should be no World Cup without workers’ rights,” she told AFP. “I can honestly say now that my advice to fans is go to the World Cup, have fun.”
Not leaving out the diplomatic mission from Africa, Mr. Ababu Namwuamba Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, has in his strong backing to Qatar, described the World Cup as a historic moment, saying that “football has the power to unite us and bring our global community closer together”, whilst Nigerian Ambassador to Qatar Yakubu Abdullahi Ahmed praised praised Qatar for the work done so far saying “Qatar’s devotion to ensuring its preparedness for the 2022 World Cup is remarkable. It has taken the focus and commitment of the people of Qatar, under the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hammad Al Thani, to achieve the impossible”.
The Football Culture
But the question of football culture still lingers on, even with few days to the start of the competition, critics have described Qatar as not having the football culture to host such as event, but a counter question is, did Japan/Korea, United States of America (USA) had football cultures before they hosted the world cups in 1994 and 2002?
It is obvious that, the answer would be no. In a strict comparison, Qatar has a more established football culture than the three countries, as they had over the years played a professional football league and attracted players from other countries even before the thought of hosting the world cup, as history had it that football was introduced to Qatar in 1948.
It must also be noted that, Qatar, has over the years hosted successfully major events such as FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 1995, Asian Cup in 2010, 2019 FIFA Club Cup, 2020 FIFA Club World Cup, the 2021 Arab Cup and a host of other multiple sports events, therefore making it not just a football nation but a nation with the desire for sports.
Human Rights Questions
Human Rights activities have not been left out the process ahead of the world cup. For them, they want to see more fundamental human rights in Qatar, and the issues of LGBT+ rights remain dominant, but the question of sovereignty of every nation must be of supreme importance, as such demands does not constitute absolute human rights but undermining of the country’s sovereignty.
It is in view of this, that Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom has called for British fans to respect the laws of the country, whilst enjoying the world cup.
