- Title: We cooperated with all investigations says 2022 Qatar World Cup organiser
- Date: 20th May 2016
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 19, 2016) (REUTERS) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, AT NEWS CONFERENCE AT LONDON'S CHATHAM HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, SAYS: "Qatar recognised from the very beginning the power of football. We are a football-loving nation. a lot of you may not be aware of it but we are a young nation, relatively young compared to a lot of nations in the world. But from the very beginning, the early days, football was a part of our culture. You can talk to any person in Qatar, and they can talk to you extensively about any league in the world, so we understand the power of football. The Middle East understands the power of football, and bidding to host the ultimate tournament in the world and harnessing that power for a bigger vision for the Middle East, I think, is a legitimate ambition that any national can aspire to and we aspired to it at the time." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, SAYS: "And more importantly when the investigation happened, Michael Garcia, after the bid, we cooperated fully out of a sense of vindication and out of a sense of confidence at the cleanliness of the bid . And we cooperated with Michael Garcia to the extent as if he had subpoena powers. And I would like to point out that is definitely not the case with a lot of other bides." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, SAYS: "A lot of people looked into this - there has been significant investigations by many different entities, not only the ethics committee. There are other investigations undergone by other entities, other information that is out there in the public, and yet until today as you said, nothing has been proven. Nothing has come out and till today we have to sit down and face these questions that other bids do not have to face. The other host nations do not have to face. We have to face claims of, you know, from the very beginning, that Qatar should be stripped of the World Cup even before, even before, the investigation occurred or any kind of finding was done. When on the other hand you have other nations today that face accusations of corruption, and I don't want to mention them and I am not calling for these calls to be made, but other nations are facing accusations of corruption and yet not a single person raised an eyebrow and said we've got to take these tournaments out of them." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, ASKED ABOUT CLAIMS BY FORMER FIFA PRESIDENT SEPP BLATTER THAT THE 2022 WORLD CUP SHOULD HAVE GONE TO USA BUT QATAR WAS GIVEN IT BECAUSE OF A MEETING BETWEEN FRENCH PRESIDENT NICHOLAS SARKOZY AND CROWN PRINCE OF QATAR, SAYS: "Well I understand, I mean first of all the fact that he wanted the U.S. to win - it is just fascinating that nobody is raising any concerns about that, looking into that matter to start off with, you know. But fair enough, you know, I guess we will take the flak again." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, SPEAKING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS OF WORKERS ON QATARI STADIUMS, SAYS: "In relation to the issue of workers having their documents with them, it is against Qatari law, it always was against Qatari law. The issue is issue enforcement, and that is gradually changing. As I said, increased inspection visits by the government ensures that the workers have their documents with them. From our side increasing or improving accommodation standards in itself offers a safe place for the workers to keep their travel documents and that is happening, and it has been very successful, as we showcased in our progress report which we published a few months ago." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, SPEAKING ABOUT DEATHS OF NEPALI WORKERS ON QATARI BUILDING SITES, SAYS: "We never denied that deaths were occurring. And again not limited to construction sites, as I said, for other causes. But yes, cardiac arrest is a significant contributor to Nepalis, to Nepali deaths. From our side, in the supreme committee, we are working on undertaking a commission, a study, on this matter with relevant authorities and a number of academic institutions as well to look into this matter ourselves. I believe the government has undertaken that study but I am not privy to the details of it, so I can't comment on that, I apologise for that. But as I said from our side we are starting to look into this matter and we haven't announced it yet because we are undertaking it, we are discussing it, we are going to put it in place, and part of the people we are talking to as well is an international organisation, I don't want to disclose it just yet because we are still finalising an agreement with them but once that is finalised they will be contributing as well not only to the death issues but also to the health and safety generally on our work sites. " NEWS CONFERENCE HASSAN AL-THAWADI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE QATAR ORGANISING COMMITTEE, LISTENING TO CHAIRMAN
- Embargoed: 4th June 2016 13:14
- Keywords: Hassan Al-Thawadi Qatar 2022 World Cup FIFA
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: Qatar
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0014IM3I2N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hassan Al-Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar's 2022 World Cup organising committee, gave a robust defence of his country's record on Thursday (May 19) during a visit to London.
Speaking at Chatham House, Al-Thawadi complained that Qatar had been singled out, both for allegations of corruption resulting in the awarding of the 2022 World Cup in the first place, and then for continued calls for Qatar to be stripped of the competition despite investigations yielding no evidence of corruption.
The Qatari said critics attacked the decision to award the 2022 World Cup by saying Qatar was not a player on the world soccer stage.
"From the very beginning, the early days, football was a part of our culture," said Al-Thawadi. "You can talk to any person in Qatar, and they can talk to you extensively about any league in the world, so we understand the power of football. The Middle East understands the power of football, and bidding to host the ultimate tournament in the world and harnessing that power for a bigger vision for the Middle East, I think, is a legitimate ambition that any national can aspire to and we aspired to it at the time."
He said that Qatar had cooperated with all FIFA investigations, including that by Michael Garcia, and subsequent inquiries but was still subjected to calls for his country to be stripped of the 2022 World Cup.
"On the other hand you have other nations today that face accusations of corruption... and yet not a single person raised an eyebrow and said we've got to take these tournaments out of them," Al-Thawadi said.
Asked about the claim by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter that the 2022 World Cup went to Qatar instead of the United States because of a meeting in Paris by the Qatari crown prince and French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Al-Thawadi asked what Blatter had meant by saying the World Cup was supposed to go to the USA.
"The fact that he wanted the U.S. to win - it is just fascinating that nobody is raising any concerns about that, looking into that matter to start off with, you know. But fair enough, you know, I guess we will take the flak again," said Al-Thawadi with a laugh.
Asked about the human rights of workers, many of them Nepali, on the construction sites of the World Cup stadiums, Al-Thawadi said that some employers' practices, such as taking away the passports of immigrant workers, were illegal in Qatar but there had been little enforcement by the authorities; this was now changing. He said workers were now being given improved accommodation and with it places to keep their travel documents safe.
He also said the issue of deaths by workers was being investigated. Human rights organisations say that workers have died from cardiac arrests after being required to work in fierce heat without proper access to water. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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