DOHA: Foreign Minister H E Dr Khaled bin Mohammed Al Attiyah said yesterday that there was “no way” Qatar would be stripped of its right to host the 2022 World Cup, Reuters reported.
“It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right can’t be for an Arab state,” he said in an interview with Reuters in Paris a day after FIFA President Sepp Blatter resigned. “I believe it is because of prejudice and racism that we have this bashing campaign against Qatar,” he added.
When asked if they could lose the right to host the tournament, Al Attiyah said: “No way Qatar can be stripped (of it). We are confident of the procedures and deserve to win it because we presented the best file (bid).”
While not naming any country or entity, Al Attiyah said that when the time came Doha would be able to show who was behind a campaign against Qatar.
“We are not in a position today to show what we have in terms of who is behind this campaign against Qatar and why they are trying to deprive Qatar of this right,” he said. “We are honest and confident we haven’t committed any wrongdoing,” he said.
Speaking a day after a meeting of countries fighting Islamic State (IS), Khaled Al Attiyah said the international community was not doing enough to pressure all parties in Iraq to start national reconciliation. “A big group of people in Iraq are being marginalised: if we don’t do something to include them in the political process, then we are forcing them to join the other side,” Attiyah said, referring to Sunni Muslims. “We see no hope in continuing an air campaign without simultaneously having a national dialogue on the ground.”
Around 20 coalition ministers met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi in Paris, in part to persuade his Shia-led government to repair relations with Iraq’s Sunni minority to strengthen its campaign against IS, also known as ISIS. “The combat is not boots on the ground ... it is the national dialogue. That is the real combat,” Attiyah said, adding that Abadi needed help from all those who had an influence in Iraq.
Attiyah said there was “no will” from the international community to resolve the issue which had left the Syrian people with just a choice of the “tyranny of the regime or the brutality of the terrorist groups.”
“Today there are 300,000 people killed in Syria, do we forget all this and say that the Assad regime is the one going to fight terrorists?” He dismissed claims that Qatar supported extremist groups in Syria, including Al Qaeda’s local branch the Nusrah Front.
The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar’s World Cup football organisers said yesterday that the recent dramatic events at FIFA would “not impact” on the country’s preparations for its hosting of the controversial 2022 tournament. In its first direct statement about football’s governing body since Tuesday’s resignation of long-time president Sepp Blatter, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said: “The recent events at FIFA will not impact on our preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
The committee said it was “ahead of schedule” as work had already begun on five of the stadiums which will be used during the tournament. It also added that it was used to attacks on its hosting of the World Cup. “Qatar has faced criticism from the moment we won the right to bring this tournament to the Middle East for the first time.
“We remain committed to using the World Cup as a platform to break down prejudice and misconceptions, while leaving a lasting legacy for our country and the rest of the region.” the peninsula
