Barely "one day goes by without a negative headline concerning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar," according to Kai Psotta of BILD. Workers "are dying on construction sites." When the World Cup "will take place is up in the air." "What about alcohol? And can a World Cup work in a country that has no football tradition?" Qatar 2022 General Secretary HASSAN AL-THAWADI talked to German newspaper Bild about the 2022 World Cup. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
Q: Mr. Al-Thawadi, almost only negative stories about the 2022 World Cup come to Europe. Does Qatar still enjoy hosting the event?
Hassan Al-Thawadi: Of course I'm sad about the negative stories that have been written about Qatar. However, I won't surrender my optimism. In addition, several things have not been conveyed in a proper way and portrayed excessively. I don't say that everything is perfect here. Of course we've made mistakes -- every nation makes mistakes. We have been one of the fastest growing economies in the world since 1995, and we have one of the fastest growing populations. Every nation also makes mistakes in its development -- but we have been under close examination because we will host the World Cup. People have heard about Qatar, but they don't know a lot about our country. Many people have no conception about us. Therefore it is easy to create a bad image and believe it.
Q: There are many people who expect a catastrophe in eight years.
Al-Thawadi: You guys hosted the 2006 World Cup. So you have experienced what unique opportunity football provides. Prior to that there were also skeptics. People thought Germany had no sense of humor. But after the tournament, the whole world loved Germany. The world took a bow and said, "Wow, Germany." We also want that. I'm certain people will have a great time here. They will have fun and leave our country with fabulous experiences. We are a friendly nation. We are ambitious. We have set the highest goals for ourselves. We want to host the greatest World Cup the world has ever seen.
Q: You have eight years left. What's your timetable look like?
Al-Thawadi: For me its like a 400m sprint. That's the toughest sprint. You can't sprint the whole time, but you have to almost sprint. You have to be very disciplined to survive the 400m. Translated for us it means: The event isn't so far off that we would get in danger of relaxing. At the same time, it's close enough that we know we have to work for it tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and every day thereafter. This year, we'll start construction for stadiums. They will be finished by 2020. In April, our new major airport will open (BILD, 1/13).
