Qatar Emir slams 'unprecedented' campaign against hosting country

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Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, criticized Tuesday the boycott campaign against the World Cup which has been targeting Qatar over human rights concerns. 

During a speech addressed to the Qatari legislative council, he said, "Since we won the honour of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced."

In 2010, Qatar was awarded the World Cup by FIFA and has spent billions of dollars on its stadiums and training sites.

But since the start of operations, the Gulf state has been dealing with "unprecedented criticism" over its poor record in human rights, particularly on the treatment of migrant workers. 

"We initially dealt with the matter in good faith, and even considered that some criticism was positive and useful, helping us to develop aspects of ours that need to be developed," the Emir said.

"But it soon became clear to us that the campaign continues, expands and includes fabrication and double standards, until it reached an amount of ferocity that made many question, unfortunately, about the real reasons and motives behind this campaign," he added.

The USSF/USA in support of human rights for men, women, and children globally should boycott this death cup. FIFA and the USSF have a double standard. Fighting for human rights inside your borders while accepting non-human rights outside is unacceptable. It is just that simple. pic.twitter.com/q3Ax62SSII

— Paul J. Lapointe (@PaulLapointe98) October 20, 2022

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has repeatedly said since the start of operations that the Qatar World Cup, the first in an Arab nation, will be the "best ever".

Read more: Multiple cities across France boycott World Cup in Qatar

On September 12, the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) published a report on modern slavery.

The report mentioned Qatar, which has for long faced widespread accusations of labor rights violations relating to migrants working there in the run-up to the FIFA soccer World Cup, due to start in November. 

Since the ILO opened an office in Doha in 2018, it is claimed that "significant progress" has been witnessed regarding the living and working conditions for migrant workers whom the country heavily depends on in various fields, even as problems remained with implementing new labor rules, the report stated.

Nasser Al-Khater, Qatar 2022 Chief Executive, claimed on Thursday that due to the country's hosting of the World Cup, it faced a lot of "unfair" criticism that was not fact-based.

The focus on Qatar's human rights issue returned when Amnesty International on Thursday demanded that FIFA set up a $440 million fund for abused foreign laborers. Since it was granted holding the World Cup in 2010, Qatar has spent some $300 billion on infrastructure around the World Cup.

Since 2016, Qatar has allegedly abolished much of the Kafala system, which frames foreign workers into restrictions that prohibit them from changing jobs or leaving the country without the approval of the employer, who is typically permitted to confiscate employees' passports. In addition, a minimum wage and working time limits in extreme weather conditions were also introduced into labor force laws, but the head of the ILO, Max Tunon, says that not all rules are being applied.  

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