Doha - Holding the 2022 Soccer World Cup in Qatar is a
"done deal", a confident head of the Gulf state's tournament
organising committee said on Monday, shrugging off on-going corruption and human
rights concerns.
Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Supreme
Committee for Delivery and Legacy, told the local Arabic daily Al-Sharq
newspaper that football's biggest tournament will go ahead in the Middle East
despite calls elsewhere for Qatar to be stripped of hosting rights.
"The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar, the first in
a Middle Eastern, Arab and Muslim country," said Al-Thawadi.
"It is a done deal."
He added that World Cup organisers in the Gulf had a
"generally positive" relationship with FIFA, football's governing
body.
Qatar is the subject of an on-going corruption investigation
being carried out by Switzerland's Attorney General office.
Launched in May 2015, the Swiss legal team is investigating
the bidding process amid allegations of corruption for the 2022 World Cup - and
the 2018 tournament in Russia.
But Al-Thawadi told Al-Sharq that Qatar had nothing to fear.
"I am totally confident our file is clean," he
said.
Qatar also faces continued criticism from human rights
groups over the treatment of its labour force helping to build World Cup venues
and related infrastructure.
That issue is likely to come into focus again next month
when Qatar is expected to announce the end of its much-criticised
"kafala" labour system, the source of much criticism.
"Kafala", which places restrictions on workers'
ability to change jobs and travel, is to be replaced by a contract system.
However, this is unlikely to placate critics, who have
accused Doha of not going far enough with reforms.
The issue of worker-safety is also on-going.
Last month Qatar announced its first
"work-related" death in regard to the World Cup, when a labourer died
at the Al-Wakrah Stadium.
"What concerns us now is that this accident is not to
be repeated. There is a comprehensive investigation at the moment and we are
going to finish it soon," said Al-Thawadi.
He also tackled the thorny issue of venue numbers and said
organisers would like to see eight stadiums used during the 2022 World Cup.
FIFA said last week that a final decision on the number of
venues had been pushed back until next year at the earliest.
Qatar's successful bid for the tournament allowed for up to
12 stadiums to be used in 2022.
"We are confident that we will not be asked to
implement twelve stadiums," he said. "We feel that eight stadiums is
enough for Qatar."
So far, Qatar has said it will spend up to $10 billion on
stadium construction.
If eight stadiums are eventually used it will mean the 2022 finals will have the smallest number of venues at any tournament since Argentina in 1978.