As the World Cup opens in less than a month, the sovereign regretted the incessant attacks against the organizing country.
Qatar faces a campaign of criticism “unprecedentedabout hosting the FIFA World Cup in the tiny Gulf country, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said on Tuesday.
«Since we had the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been the target of an unprecedented campaign that no other host country has suffered“, he said during a speech.
FIFA awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, and tens of billions of dollars have been spent by the emirate to prepare for the event which will take place from November 20 to December 18.
The rich gas state is however the subject of numerous criticisms about the treatment of foreign workers, the rights of LGBTQ (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, queers) and women, or the use of air conditioning in its eight stadiums, which cost $6.75 billion.
“Slander and double standards”
«Initially, we approached this subject in good faith, and we even considered some reviews to be positive and useful, helping us to develop aspects that needed to be“, declared the emir in front of the legislative council in Doha.
«But it soon became clear to us that the campaign persists, expands, there is slander and double standards, reaching a level of relentlessness that has left many people wondering, sadly, about the real reasons and motivations of this campaign“, he added.
Fifa President Gianni Infantino said recently that the Qatar World Cup, the first to be held in an Arab country, would be the “best of all time».
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