World football governing body FIFA has praised Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup, saying it has confidence in the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy’s ability to get all facilities up and running two years before the kick-off.
FIFA’s assessment came after its delegates held a meeting with Local Organising Committee (LOC) officials and toured stadium construction venues and other sites where infrastructure related projects are coming up.
“We are happy with the progress Qatar has made with its preparations for the World Cup and especially with the LOC’s dynamic timelines for the delivery of stadiums,” FIFA’s director competitions Colin Smith told journalists at a press conference yesterday.
“Our tour today helped us get a flavour of some of the sites. It helps us to visualise things.”
Smith, however, added that the decision regarding the exact number of stadiums to be used for the tournament had been deferred further.
As reported earlier, construction work on six stadiums has already started, while the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) last week identified locations for the seventh and eighth.
“I wouldn’t read much into the fact that eight stadiums (the minimum required to host the event) have been already announced,” Smith said. “We need to further study what effect a 28-day tournament would have on the facilities. We have to ensure optimum playing conditions for the players.”
Smith said that a compact World Cup posed a unique set of challenges. “World Cups don’t deliver themselves. We will be concerned if there are no challenges. The stadiums, the railway, the expressways - everything has to come together as a package. In the next seven years we will be working on such operational issues.”
Earlier, LOC CEO Hassan al-Thawadi, Deputy CEO Nasser al-Khater and COO Sakis Batsilas updated the LOC board on the operational developments for the World Cup.
The board meeting was the culmination of a series of workshops held between the LOC and FIFA over recent weeks, which focused on specific operational deliverables, designed to lay the foundation for a successful tournament seven years ahead of kick-off. This was the second time the board met, following the inaugural 2022 LOC board meeting in February.
Also discussed within the meeting were sustainability-related topics, including the subject of workers’ welfare and the commitments made by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy to ensure the safety of the workers involved in the construction of the FIFA World Cup stadiums.
Following the meeting, a delegation from FIFA, led by its acting secretary general Markus Kattner, were given a tour of five of the six stadiums currently under construction throughout Qatar.
The tour offered officials from football’s governing body the opportunity to get a sense of the progress made, seven years ahead of the tournament.
Al-Thawadi added: “Today’s meeting is testament to the progress we are making ahead of 2022. Since our first board meeting in February we have striven to deliver on our promises to FIFA as we prepare for the first World Cup in the Middle East.
“In seven years’ time we will be immersed in the excitement and passion of the tournament. However, it is the work we do today which ensures that experience is unlike anything the world of football has previously witnessed.
“FIFA are well aware of our commitment towards using the World Cup as a catalyst for social progress, but this was yet another opportunity to underline our commitment to workers’ welfare.”
Kattner also expressed his happiness with the preparations.
“Planning is crucial to a successful FIFA World Cup and it was key for us to get first hand information on the on-going preparations. FIFA is working closely with the Supreme Committee and the LOC to develop the best operational plans for 2022. We are very pleased with the work done by the 2022 LOC to date,” Kattner said.
“We are encouraged by the Supreme Committee’s Workers’ Welfare Standards related to the FIFA World Cup stadiums, which meet international norms for working conditions, accommodation and wages. FIFA will continue working closely with the Supreme Committee to ensure that contractors comply with these standards throughout the entire construction cycle. We also strongly urge the Qatari government to accelerate the labour reform process on a national level to ensure that such labour standards become legally required for all construction companies active in Qatar.”
