All WC stadiums will be ready by year-end or early next yr: Thawadi
Infrastructure projects 95% complete: SC secy-gen
SUPREME Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) SecretaryGeneral Hassan Al Thawadi has said that all FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums will be ready by the end of this year or early next year.
Al Thawadi was speaking to CNN’s Becky Anderson at Al Bayt Stadium, where he discussed the current status of construction, with just 500 days to go until the tournament begins in Doha.
On the current infrastructure progress and national mood amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Al Thawadi said, “I’d like to say we’re, give or take, around 90 percent. Between 90 and 95 percent completion. Most transportation infrastructure is complete; the metro system is up and running. Four stadiums have been finished and inaugurated. The fifth is very close to the final completion awaiting inauguration. We have three other stadiums in the pipeline, again, at varying stages of completion, but by the end of this year or early next year at the latest, all the stadiums will be ready.”
Al Thawadi refuted reports that over 6,500 migrant workers have died in the country since the country won the rights to host the World Cup in 2010. He said the figure initially published by The Guardian was “inherently misleading” and lacking context.
“The headline that came out of The Guardian was inherently misleading… 6,500 workers did not die at the World Cup stadiums. If we’re looking specifically at World Cup stadiums, we have had, unfortunately, three workrelated deaths, and 35 nonwork-related deaths… What I’m saying is the number 6,500 is not limited to workers themselves. It includes people from all different walks of life. Any death, whether it’s a natural death as a result of an accident, is a tragedy. So, that’s very important to highlight. But the number itself, if you break it down with the total population over a period of 10 years, it comes in within the normal mortality rate,” he pointed out
The SC Secretary-General also discussed protests by international teams and fans around the issue of workers’ rights, telling CNN that he isn’t concerned, and he is hopeful that people “would be educated more about Qatar” by the time of the tournament.
On workers’ rights and welfare, Al Thawadi said, “First and foremost, nobody denies that more work needs to be done. We have partnered with the ILO, we’ve partnered with BWI, one of the biggest trade unions in the world as well. We have delivered on those promises. Now, the question is, is that enough? Of course not, but I don’t think any nation in the world today can make a claim that they have the perfect system, there is no doubt about that.”