By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – Despite being buffeted by all manner of “abuse”, whether over human rights, unproven corruption allegations or the tournament being controversially switched to winter, Qatar’s most senior World Cup official says he has absolutely no regrets in bidding for the 2022 tournament.
At a press conference in Doha to mark the eve of the five-year anniversary before the tournament starts, Hassan Al Thawadi said the Gulf state – currently boycotted by a trio of powerful neighbours – was right to go for football’s showpiece event.
Al-Thawadi told reporters: “It will always be worth it, it will always continue being worth it. We suffered abuse. Did we ever regret it? No, we will never regret it. Anything of value will never come easy.”
Ever since controversially being awarded hosting rights, Qatar has been blighted by criticism from far and wide, most recently on its doorstep in a bitter dispute with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as Egypt, over allegations of financing terrorism.
Last week it was announced that as part of the diplomatic and trade blockade, the Saudis, UAE and Bahrain would not take part in the forthcoming Gulf Cup, hosted by Qatar, because of political tensions and al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, pleaded with countries currently boycotting his own to allow their fans to travel in five years’ time.
“We hope that the blockading nations see reason in this matter and allow for their people to be able to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Answering questions in Arabic, English, Spanish and Russian, al-Thawadi publicly revealed for the first time that Qatar would be backing Morocco’s efforts to host the 2026 World Cup against the powerful USA-Canada-Mexico three-nation rival bid which is odds-on favourite.
Qatar’s unexpected triumph over the Americans in the campaign to stage 2022 still rankles with US authorities and al-Thawadi’s support for Morocco will do little to alleviate that.
“We support Morocco’s bid and will extend any support if needed,” he said. “They do have a strong competitor in USA, Canada and Mexico. However, we believe that Morocco has the capacity to host.
“The manner in which the decision is taken has now changed. Now it is the general assembly (FIFA Congress) which decides. The success of the Moroccan bid will further extend the transformative power within the Arab region. It will have a stabilising effect on the region. Together with 2022, this will be the biggest moment in Arab world’s history.”
Al-Thawadi also attempted to distance 2022 from the ongoing football corruption trial in New York where there have been all kinds of hints and innuendos about illicit payments involving Qatar.
He responded by pointing out that the investigation undertaken for FIFA by American lawyer Michael Garcia had long exonerated Qatar of any wrongdoing.
“It is all hearsay and there is no evidence. We are confident in the integrity of our bid. We fully cooperated with the Garcia Commission. The result of the Garcia report exonerates us and confirms that ours was a clean bid.”
Yet as well as the New York trial, Swiss prosecutors are still investigating the 2018 and 2022 bid process. So what if, down the road, there is any move to strip to Qatar of hosting rights?
“If we were unfairly and unjustly found guilty, we will take legal action. Of course, we will take all legal proceedings. We will appeal against whatever decisions that get made. It’s simple as that. If you are asking an innocent person what would you do if found guilty, my question to you would be what would an innocent person do?
“They would fight to be exonerated; they will fight to clear their name. That’s the only way, there is no alternative I can give. We are confident of the actions that we have taken. We are confident that we won’t be found guilty. If we were for whatever reason unjustly found, as an individual person or institution, guilty, we will continue fighting to clear our name.
“However, I must add that the … trial (in New York) going on is not related to 2022.”
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