Qatar World Cup boss: Tournament has ‘changed the perception of this part of the world’

Published

3 years ago

December 18, 2022

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Qatar World Cup chief Hassan Al Thawadi says the tournament has changed perceptions of the region and transformed his country.

He also insisted there should be recognition for improved workers’ rights after previously “unacceptable” conditions.

Mr Al Thawadi told Sky News: “The progress will not end when the final whistle is blown.”

Lusail – the centrepiece of the £150bn+ World Cup project – will host the showdown between Argentina and France to conclude the first World Cup to be staged in the Middle East.

“This was a celebration of the Arab people, of our culture, of our tradition, of our history,” Mr Al Thawadi said in an interview in Doha.

“People might have come in with different opinions.

“And I’ve heard it from many, in particular Europeans, saying that they might have come to support the team – but with trepidation, a little bit of concern.

“But when they engaged with the Qatari community, when they engaged with the Arab community, when they engaged with the hospitality, a lot of them walked away with a different opinion, a different view.

“And to that extent, it was a platform for bringing people together in an unprecedented way.”

Mr Al Thawadi was speaking in his only interview on the eve of the final – the culmination of a 12-year journey from winning an audacious bid, fending off threats to the tournament from investigations and regional diplomatic instability to delivering the event.

“It changed the perception of this part of the world,” he said. “And also it allowed us to showcase the best in us.”

But tragedies and suffering among low-paid migrant workers will be forever associated with this World Cup, despite the tournament being viewed as a catalyst for improved labour conditions and rights, including the introduction of a minimum wage.

Mr Al Thawadi said: “The country recognised the need for reforms, because the condition was unacceptable and the laws were put in place.”

There were 414 deaths on wider Qatari infrastructure from 2014 to 2020, but only three happened during the building of stadiums. But there were two deaths in accidents on World Cup-linked sites during the tournament.

“There is a workers’ support insurance fund that will be looking into any matters relating to unfortunate deaths,” Mr Al Thawadi said. “And that will continue beyond the World Cup.”

Bringing the World Cup to Qatar put a focus on discriminatory laws. There were assurances LGBT fans would be protected but some were stopped by security with rainbow hats and t-shirts removed.

“Some fans unfortunately did face issues,” Mr Al Thawadi said.

“I think some of the security people might have taken a decision at the time to see what was best, whether in fear of potential tensions rising inside the stadium or not.”

There is resistance to decriminalising same-sex relations in the Muslim nation.

“This is something that’s within our religious values,” Mr Al Thawadi said.

“This is something that a lot of countries share the same common values… more community-based values, as opposed to where the predominant set of values are personal rights.

“I think people are aware that we have differences in opinions. But I think it’s important to highlight that we have to find ways of respecting each other’s opinions, and finding a way of moving forward. And that’s what this World Cup has shown.”

There was a brief backlash – particularly from some Europeans – after Qatar banned the sale of alcohol at stadiums two days before the World Cup opened.

But reducing the opportunities for fans to drink ahead of matches is credited with creating a more welcoming environment for families and Muslim fans from the region and beyond.

Mr Al Thawadi said: “I think cultural understanding is extremely important in this day and age.

“We are people of different backgrounds, who are people of different communities and different values.

“But I think we have to be able to find ways of expressing our disagreement with each other.

“But at the same time being able to walk away, having disagreed but not conflicted.

“Having disagreed but respecting the other’s opinion and finding ways of coming together and coexisting together.”

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Israel silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza

Published

3 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza

The targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif and four other colleagues by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) late on Sunday silences more crucial reporting voices from inside Gaza.

The IDF wasted no time in releasing a statement claiming it had “eliminated” Al-Sharif, calling him a “terrorist” who “posed” as a journalist for Al Jazeera.

Gaza latest: Follow live updates

The Committee to Protect Journalists warned in July that Al-Sharif was the victim of an Israeli smear campaign and that they feared for his safety.

The IDF had previously released documents which they say proved his involvement with Hamas.

No word from them on his colleagues – Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa – who they also killed. We are chasing.

Al-Sharif’s death – and that of his four colleagues – is a chilling message to the journalistic community both on the ground and elsewhere ahead of Israel’s impending push into Gaza City.

There will now be fewer journalists left to cover that story, and – if it is even possible – they will be that bit more fearful.

This is how journalists are silenced. Israel knows this full well.

It has also not allowed international journalists independent access to enter Gaza to report on the war.

Al-Sharif’s death has sent shockwaves across the region, where he was a household name. He was prolific on social media and had a huge following.

I was watching horrifying footage of the immediate aftermath of the strike in the taxi on my way into the bureau, and the driver told me how he and his family had all cried for Anas when the news came in.

His little daughter cried because of Al-Sharif’s little daughter, Sham, who she knew from social media.

“They call everyone Hamas,” my taxi driver said. “Men, women, children”.

Last month, Al-Sharif wrote this post: “I haven’t stopped covering [the crisis] for a moment in 21 months, and today I say it outright… and with indescribable pain.

“I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment… Gaza is dying. And we die with it.”

This is what journalists in Gaza are facing, every single day.

World

Israel’s PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Published

9 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel's PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Israel’s prime minister added more detail to his deeply controversial plans for military escalation in Gaza at a news conference with foreign media yesterday – despite the condemnation of the UN Security Council, which met in an emergency session and urged him to rethink.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “fairly short timetable” to establish designated “safe zones” for the one million or so set to be displaced from Gaza City.

He also vowed to seize and dismantle Hamas’s final strongholds there – in the central refugee camps, and in al Mawasi, along Gaza’s southwestern coast.

This, per Netanyahu, is the only way to destroy the terror group, which he claimed “subjugates Gazans, steals their food and shoots them when they try to move to safety”.

Al Mawasi is already home to a significant displaced population, most of whom live in tents cramped up against the Mediterranean Sea, in what is already a designated humanitarian zone.

If members of Hamas live among them, rooting them out will be hugely complicated and will involve significant civilian casualties. If the residents of Gaza City can’t evacuate south to al Mawasi, where will they go?

Netanyahu’s plan is to set up more aid distribution sites through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and to flood Gaza with food.

He claimed his policy was not one of forced starvation – describing particular photos of starving babies as “fake news”, and accusing the media of painting a false picture.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” the prime minister claimed.

I asked Netanyahu how he would go about preventing the kinds of daily killings taking place at aid distribution points in the months since GHF has been operating.

Doctors Without Borders has described these incidents as deliberately orchestrated.

The prime minister said increasing the amount of aid heading into the Strip was the answer.

“And by the way, a lot of the firing was done by Hamas seeking to have a response by our forces,” he added. “And very often they didn’t, they held back. They stayed their own fire even though their own lives were on the line.”

This was Israel’s prime minister trying to get on the front foot in a propaganda war he acknowledged he was losing. He was loath to admit the presence of famine in Gaza.

It took two questions before he acknowledged there was “deprivation”, even if he would not be drawn on whether his 11-week total blockade of the strip earlier this year had played any role.

He recognises that the appalled response of the international community to the human cost of this war, and the accusations of war crimes and genocide which Israel so vehemently rejects, are a terrible look.

This was his attempt to reclaim the narrative.

World

Defiant Netanyahu sets out plan for military escalation in Gaza – and describes photographs of starving babies as ‘fake news’

Published

15 hours ago

August 10, 2025