Qatari Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Projects and Legacy responsible for organizing the FIFA World Cup in 2022, confirmed that the tournament is capable of uniting the world and bringing its people closer after the repercussions of the spread of the new Corona virus.
During the meeting, he reviewed the preventive measures taken by the Supreme Committee to protect the workers of the World Cup projects, pointing out that the world is now facing an unprecedented crisis.
"Our focus from the beginning was focused on protecting the health and safety of our workers, where we cooperated with the Ministry of Public Health to keep workers suffering from chronic diseases and those over the age of 55 in special residences to protect them from the risk of infection with the virus, and temporarily exempt them from going to workplaces, with Their salaries continue to be paid regularly throughout their stay in quarantine or while receiving health care.
In response to a question about the extent to which work in Qatar 2022 championship projects was affected by developments related to the emerging Corona virus and the precautionary measures taken to limit its spread, Al-Thawadi revealed that the number of stadiums ready to host the matches will reach six by the end of this year.
He said, "We continue to work at a lower pace than usual, but we are in a good position in terms of achievement in the championship projects, as more than 80% of the World Cup stadiums were completed more than two and a half years before the start of the championship competitions, and the end of this year will witness the readiness of six stadiums Out of eight, so we still have time to work on our projects. "
Al-Thawadi explained that one of the most important challenges of the 2022 World Cup Qatar is now that the tournament presence becomes economically available for all who wish to witness its competitions.
"It is difficult for everyone now to provide a clear vision of what the post-Corona crisis world will look like. This is the first time that all economic activities have stopped, which has left huge repercussions on business, jobs and people's lives in general," he said.
"We must take into account the economic ability of the fans to travel and attend the World Cup competitions, and we are continuing to discuss this with experts, and with other countries hosting major sporting events, such as the Tokyo Olympics 2020, with the aim of developing plans and possible scenarios to deal with this," added the Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Projects and Heritage. The matter. "
"We have assured from the beginning that attending the Qatar 2022 tournament will be an affordable experience, and we demonstrated this during our hosting of the Club World Cup last year by working closely with clubs, fans' associations and Qatar Airways," he added.
"I feel optimistic that by 2022, we will have overcome that pandemic, and our societies will be more resilient, and we will all have the opportunity to celebrate at a global football festival on Qatar's land in the first edition of the World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world," he concluded.