Qatar World Cup will be catalyst of change: Valcke

Qatar World Cup will be catalyst of change: Valcke

By Armstrong Vaz

Doha: FIFA World Cup football finals have been a catalyst of change wherever it has been held and the 2022 showpiece event in Qatar will be no different, says FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.

The FIFA secretary general said the football governing body learns from lessons of past tournaments and uses the World Cup to change the reality of several countries.

“We use the World Cup as a way to change a country,” said the official of the world football governing body about the quadrennial event, the first one to be held in the Middle East.

Valcke was addressing a press conference on Wednesday along with Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy after the first meeting of the Qatar World Cup Local Organizing Committee (LOC) with FIFA representatives.

"In a nutshell I am very happy with what we have seen,” Valcke said.

Valcke said he had visited a number of stadiums including the construction site of Al Wakrah Stadium as well as the workers' housing, saying that progress has been made in the standards of workers’ rights in all World Cup-related projects.
 

"I have to say that if the standard for all construction sites in Qatar reaches the level of standard we have for all the specific World Cup construction sites, then a big step will be contributed to these working conditions and that will be part, again, of the power of the World Cup,” Valcke said.

Qatar has been under mounting pressure over its treatment of 1.4 million migrant workers who constitute more than three-quarters of country’s total population and outnumber the local workforce by almost 20 to one.

"It's clear that there are problems and there are things to be solved and there is an ongoing discussion with ILO (International Labour Organization) and different organizations," said Valcke.

 “It's clear there are problems and things to be solved," he added.

 Valckle said FIFA president Sepp Blatter had a meeting with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani over the labour related issues and FIFA expects a solution to the problem, but cautioned the changes cannot happen overnight.

“We are not expecting a decision tomorrow morning but this problem will be solved before the 2022 World Cup. FIFA president Sepp Blatter had a meeting with the Emir of Qatar and had a discussion with His Highness (Emir).  We want to ensure that this is taken on the top of the agenda and will be solved before the World Cup when all the attention of the world will be on Qatar.”

Qatar is under pressure from FIFA to reform the restrictive kafala system of sponsorship - in which employers effectively own labourers and control their freedom to leave the country.

Valcke said the 2022 edition of the Cup will be a compact world Cup as it will save the effort of transferring participant teams between cities, which will give them more rest and concentration.

Thawadi on the other hand said the World Cup will be a catalyst for change.

He explained several steps the Qatari government has taken over the last few years.

He said the government has issued many pledges such as replacing the sponsorship system with a new one based on contracts in addition to other human rights-related legislations. 

Thawadi also affirmed Qatar's commitment to its responsibilities towards an ideal organization of the World Cup. 

Earlier, the LOC held their first board meeting with representatives from FIFA in Doha yesterday, marking another major milestone in the preparations for the 2022 World Cup.