‘Clear bias’ against Qatar, says al-Thawadi

Qatar could still host the tournament in the summer despite some concerns over the country’s climate, says al-ThawadiAFPDohaThe Qatar 2022 World Cup head has complained of “clear bias” against Doha following the Garcia Report into alleged corruption in the bidding process to host football’s biggest tournament. In his first interview since publication of the report’s summary last year, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) secretary general Hassan al-Thawadi said Qatar was not the only bid being investigated. But the spotlight has fallen only on Qatar and not on Russia, which is hosting the 2018 World Cup, or the other countries with failed bids, he said. “I can’t say if there is a prejudice against Qatar but what I can say is there is a clear bias,” al-Thawadi said in the interview to be aired today on Qatar-based Al Jazeera television. “All the reporting on Michael Garcia, the description was, the focus was on us, on Qatar, and that was inaccurate. The simple fact was the investigation was on all bidding nations, 2018 along with 2022.” He added: “And yet nevertheless, somehow, the focus still seems to be on us and I think that, if nothing else, clearly shows there is a bias.” The Garcia Report looked into allegations of corruption in the bidding process for the World Cup to be hosted by Russia as well as the tournament being held in Qatar four years later. American lawyer Michael Garcia, FIFA’s ethics investigator, quit his job after an “erroneous” summary of his 430-page report was published in November, which effectively cleared Qatar and Russia. Al-Thawadi also told Al-Jazeera that Qatar could still host the tournament in the summer despite some concerns over the country’s climate. But Qatar has long argued it has the technology for the games to be played in stadiums with cooling technology. “Since the first days of the bid we’ve always said a summer World Cup is feasible in Qatar, but whatever the football community decides, we will fulfil it,” said al-Thawadi. Qatari officials are to meet with bosses of football’s world governing body FIFA later this month in Doha to finalise a date, with many believing the tournament will instead take place in the winter. On workers’ rights, al-Thawadi said reforms to protect tens of thousands of migrants helping build facilities for the 2022 World Cup would require “time to be implemented”. Last month Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmed al-Fahad said that Qatar’s 2022 World Cup was being the subject of a racist war,  adding that the campaign against it would not affect hosting the tournament in Qatar. In an interview with Al Dawri wal Kass TV,  al-Fahad attributed the citing by Arab media of negative reports on Qatar’s World Cup in Western media to mixing politics with sport, noting that the two areas should be separate because politicians have their own calculations, visions and thoughts that may differ from one day to another where there is no permanent friend or enemy.Shrugging off the negative reports, Qatar is going ahead with preparations for hosting the tournament. Last week, a senior sport official said Qatar “will not stop” bidding for major international sporting events even after the 2022 World Cup and a potential Olympics. Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, secretary general and CEO of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), said  in an interview with AFP that the state was “open to any potential sport”.This could theoretically mean bidding for a second football World Cup, hosting matches from foreign football leagues, as well as a large number of other sporting events.