Qatar urges Arab quartet to allow citizens to attend 2022 World Cup

CAIRO – 21 November 2017: Qatar has urged the four boycotting countries to allow their citizens to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup scheduled to be held in Qatar; calling on them to separate politics from sports.

“We should separate politics from sports. We hope that the blockading nations see reason in this matter and allow their people to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Hassan Al-Thawadi, on Monday.

He noted that the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is responsible for the planning and operations of the tournament, adding that since Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have cut off ties with Qatar the committee is trying to find new suppliers of construction materials for the World Cup project.

He stressed that the construction of the sports facilities and infrastructure for the tournament remains on track. “Our plans are put in place for alternative supply chains and the projects are continuing on schedule and on cost,” he said.

International Human Rights organizations and committees announced the formation of an International Equity Committee in November to look into the violations committed against Doha-based workers in the 2022 World Cup’s related venues, according to Emirate-led newspaper Khaleej.

About, 800,000 migrant workers in Qatar are involved in construction projects, representing 40 percent of the migrant workers there, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

The organizations involved include the families of victims of the inhumane work conditions they have endured during their work at the Sports Facilities of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the African Organization for Heritage and Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Europe and Britain, the Arab Network of National Human Rights Institutions and the Gulf League for Rights and Freedoms.

More than 1,500 workers have died so far in Qatar and authorities there are only afraid of the information surfacing to light, the statement said; adding that they have arrested a BBC media team who were on task reporting the harsh work conditions the workers endure and how they are being sent off to their families in Nepal and India in coffins.

On June 5, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, hurling allegations that the state supports terrorism. Ports and airspaces were cut off to Qatari vessels.

The Arab countries listed 13 demands to be met by Qatar, including severing ties with terrorist groups, closing down the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel, downgrading ties with arch-rival Iran and the closure of the Turkish air base in Qatar.