Post of 19 November 2022
Qatar has spent $300 billion in the last 12 years since 2010 to host the men’s World Cup 2022.
Most of the money has been spent into building infrastructure; new stadiums, hotels, roads, eight lanes highways, new metro system to accommodate 1.5 million visitors expected to see football’s biggest party.
The whole new Doha city was created with cutting edge technology for World Cup in last twelve years, which is a historic achievement.
Qatar has provided all visitors free transportation including newly built metro for one month to go to stadiums, museum or souk, luxury shopping malls or water front.
Two-thirds of World Cup coverage in the Western media is critical of Qatar’s poor human-rights record, abrupt ban on alcohol in stadiums and gay rights.
Gianni Infantino, FIFA Chief has accused countries of hypocrisy over Qatar criticisms and human-rights of expatriate labours on the eve of World Cup. Infantino defended Qatar at a news conference in Doha and said “it doesn’t mean that we should point that does not work, here in Qatar as well.”
He said “of course, there are still things to work and need to be addressed, but this moral lesson giving, one sided that’s just hypocrisy. What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons.”
Infantino told that “working circumstances in Qatar are superior to those of European immigrants, and Europe should stop the criticism and focus on improving its migrants’ conditions.”
Infantino said that he knew what it felt like to be discriminated against and added: “Today I feel Qatari, Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel (like) a migrant worker.”
“Of course I am not Qatari. Of course I am not an Arab. I am not African. I am not gay. I am not disabled. I feel like it because I know what it means to be discriminated against, to be bullied. As a child I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles, plus I was Italian so imagine.”
Infantino calls for unity for the success of the tournament.
