DOHA —
Qatar has been hit by an “unprecedented campaign” of criticism over the
football World Cup, its ruler said Tuesday, lashing out at “double standards”
in a fierce rebuttal just weeks before the tournament starts.
اضافة اعلان
The energy-rich
and conservative Islamic Gulf state has spent tens of billions of dollars on
hosting the first World Cup on Arab soil, but has faced mounting attacks over
its human rights record.
In a rare public
airing of frustration,
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Qatar was the
victim of “fabrications”, hinting at hidden motives behind the criticism.
“Since we won the
honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented
campaign that no host country has faced,” he said in a speech to the country’s
legislative council, 26 days from the November 20 kick-off.
FIFA awarded the
World Cup to an Arab country for the first time after a contentious bidding
process in 2010. Qatar has since faced constant scrutiny over its treatment of
foreign workers as well as LGBTQ and women’s rights.
This week, the
government angrily rejected a report by the
Human Rights Watch (HRW) group
which said police have arbitrarily detained and abused members of the LGBTQ
community ahead of the World Cup.
The emir said
Qatar had initially accepted negative commentary “in good faith” and “even
considered that some criticism was positive and useful, helping us to develop
aspects that need to be developed.
“But it soon
became clear to us that the campaign continues, expands and includes
fabrications and double standards, until it reached an amount of ferocity that
made many wonder, unfortunately, about the real reasons and motives behind this
campaign,” he said.
‘Great test for Qatar’
The 29-day World Cup is expected to bring more than one million foreign
fans to Qatar, a small, gas-rich peninsula of less than three million people.
The emir said the
event was a chance for Qatar to show “who we are, not only in terms of the
strength of our economy and institutions, but also in terms of our
civilizational identity.”
“This is a great
test for a country the size of Qatar that impresses the whole world with what
it has already achieved.”
Homosexuality is
illegal in Qatar and critics point out that women’s rights are restricted by
male guardianship laws.
But the Gulf
state has faced particular attention over the foreign workers who have built
the infrastructure for Qatar’s economic miracle.
Foreigners make
up more than 2.5 million of the 2.9 million population.
Conditions on
construction sites were long condemned by international unions — ranging from
safety standards to hours worked in the searing summer temperatures.
Rights groups
including HRW and
Amnesty International have insisted that Qatar and FIFA
should do more to compensate workers who died or suffered injury on Qatar’s
mega projects.
They have
demanded that FIFA set up a $440 million compensation fund — equaling the World
Cup prize money.
But reforms have
been praised by the union leaders who previously fought the government.
After a visit
this week, Luca Visentini, secretary general of the European Trade Union
Confederation, told AFP that more work needs to be done on implementation of
reforms but that Qatar should be seen as “a success story”.
“The World Cup
was undoubtedly an opportunity to accelerate change and these reforms can
constitute a good example to be extended to other countries that host major
sports events,” he said.
FIFA leader Gianni
Infantino has defended Qatar and said the World Cup will be the “best ever, on
and off the field”.
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