Al-Thawadi rejects Zwanziger criticism

Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) Hassan al-Thawadi yesterday dismissed a former FIFA official’s criticisms of Qatar’s human rights record. He said Theo Zwanziger of Germany had never visited Qatar to see what was going on for himself. Al-Thawadi said Qatar had announced changes to the kafala system. “We therefore reject comments made by Theo Zwanziger that are misleading and not based on first hand knowledge of Qatar,” he said. “We have met Zwanziger and personally invited him to come to Qatar so that he can gain an understanding of the efforts we are making to improve the environment for workers in the country. Unlike some German experts who have visited Qatar to form their own opinion of our construction sites, he has never visited Qatar.”