Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 13:46• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 13:48

The government in Qatar does not agree with the criticism that has arisen about the World Cup to be organized and they ‘hope for more understanding’, head of information Thamer Al Thani told the news agency DPA. Al Thani believes that the outside world has been misinformed and therefore has not responded in a fair manner. He does, however, support the actions that various countries have taken to draw attention to human rights.

Criticism flared up after a publication of The Guardian. In total, at least 6,500 migrant workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan died in the construction of the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to the British newspaper. Because other countries do not keep track of these figures, the actual number of victims is even higher. Since the news about the number of workers killed, the call for a boycott has been strong. According to Al Thani, the number of migrant workers killed is not alarmingly high.

“I think it stems from the fact that many people are not aware of the developments that our country is going through,” explains Al Thani. “Qatar has clearly made progress and will continue to do so.” Football associations from different countries made a statement towards the World Cup in Qatar during the last World Cup qualifying matches. For example, players from Norway, the Netherlands and Germany, among others, wore specially designed t-shirts that draw attention to human rights.

National coach Frank de Boer stated at the end of March during the press conference in the run-up to the game with Turkey that it would be good to go to Qatar, in order to improve the situation with attention. Al Thani does not agree with the various criticisms and has a message for the unions. “We hope for more understanding from football associations, fans and players for the process that Qatar must go through to, for example, review labor laws. Such a change takes time, but it moves quickly,” said Al Thani. “We stand behind football associations and players who defend human rights. Their criticism of the World Cup in our country is, however, inappropriate.”