that the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ will
not be hosted in January or February
out of respect to the Olympic Games, as
the Winter Olympics will be held at
that time. President Blatter also
recognised the work that Qatar is
already undertaking in relation to
workers' rights
Also present was Managing Director of
the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee,
Sheikh Mohammed, who stressed that
governmental and non-governmental
organisations in Qatar are working
hard to improve standards for workers
and residents in the country, and also
said that Qatar 2022 will be "an
amazing World Cup."
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter
I was very happy to be here today to
meet the highest political authorities to
fulfil my mission, which has three
points. The first is to reiterate the
decision taken by the Executive
Committee in October that there is not
one single doubt that the World Cup
2022 will be organised in Qatar, with
all matches to be played in Qatar. The
decision has been taken on the 2
December 2010 and will not be
reversed.
The second one which has been of
great discussion, that it is too hot to
play in summer. The organising
committee here and the state of Qatar
are willing and they are able to
organise the World Cup in June and
July if required, with a system of air
conditioning in the stadium. Naturally,
when it would be possible to play in
another date, for the World Cup and
for Qatar, it would be better. We want
to consult now with the different
participants in our game and our
economic partners to find the date to
play in the best possible
conditions. The Secretary General of
FIFA has been mandated to do so. We
will not play the World Cup in January
and February. It would be totally
disrespectful to the Olympic family and
organisation when they have the
Winter Olympic Games in January and
February. We have also consulted our
economic and media partners. So
many different partners are with FIFA
and the Olympic Games so we can not
have the partners in two competitions
at the same time.
Thirdly, the state of Qatar are aware of
some problems. They have already
started to react. We went to
the Supreme Committee building and
we listened to a presentation. What
was presented to us shows that they
are going forward not only today but
have already started months ago with
the problems with labour and workers.
The labour laws will be amended and
are already in the process of being
amended. Special attention will be paid
to the different inspections that are
necessary, the government inspectors
will receive more powers to enforce
the labour legislation and there will be
accommodation for all the workers.
Actually, accommodation is built for
workers with room for 60,000 to be
opened this December.
We have also learned that they have
already had contact with the Building
and Wood Workers International
(BWI) union, with the human rights
international agencies and with the
International Labour Organisation
(ILO). The part that has impressed me
is the workers' welfare charter and
their "Red Card to Forced Labour"
initiative.
I have also received a letter from the
BWI who have been here and given us
a positive report. They are asking FIFA
to enter with them into discussions
which we will certainly do. There is, at
the end, only one solution and this is
getting together with Qatar and FIFA
for the benefit of the World Cup. On
one side, football and the other, the
benefit of the country.
The World Cup is in nine years but the
problems have to be tackled now. We
are not responsible for the laws but we
are happy to see that the laws will be
amended. I am happy that the World
Cup in this country can be a catalyst
for other countries when organising
competitions to build up the social part,
that will also be registered as a legacy.
Therefore I can say that Qatar is on the
right track with the football and the
government authorities of this country
are on the right track.
Managing Director of the Qatar 2022
Supreme Committee, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa
Al Thani
Once we bid for the World Cup we bid
on the premise of hosting in the
summer. Having said that we are
ready to deliver it whether it's in the
summer or the winter. Either way it's
going to be an amazing World Cup.
We were happy to show the President
a specific workers' welfare committee
that we established to monitor and
ensure that we are taking full
advantage of the World Cup to bring
about necessary changes in improving
workers' welfare, not only in Qatar but
also to be an example for other host
nations. Taking on a World Cup is a
challenge for any host nation. We are
happy to have taken that spotlight nine
years earlier than most, but we
embrace it fully so we can bring about
those necessary changes.
These issues have been taken to heart
a very long time ago, once we started
our exponential growth and
development of the nation. I can
ensure everyone that both
governmental and non-governmental
organisations are continuously
working on a day-to-day basis to
improve the standards for not only the
workers but the inhabitants of this
country.
This issue has been important before
the World Cup was awarded to us and
shall continue to be after the World
Cup is finished. We thank FIFA for
entrusting us with such a tournament
to really catalyse this change and be an
example to the world. I look forward to
growing the partnership between
Qatar and FIFA.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
No comments:
Post a Comment