Qatar praise FIFA´s ´bold vision´

Qatar bid chief Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani thanked FIFA for putting its faith in the Middle East by awarding them the 2022 World Cup.

Bin Hamad Al-Thani accepted the honour on behalf of his country’s bid team, and promised FIFA President Sepp Blatter that he would not allow the event to be a flop.

“Thank you FIFA for having such bold vision and on behalf of the Qatar bid committee, I can personally promise you that we will not let you down,” he said.

“Thank you also for acknowledging that this is the right time for the Middle East, we have a date with history, which is summer 2022 so we’re hopefully looking forward for that day to be a really good date.”

While Bin Hamad Al-Thani was elated with the result, he admitted the task at hand was to organise a world class event to run in 12 years’ time.

“Today we celebrate, but tomorrow the work begins,” he said.

“We acknowledge that there is a lot of work for us to do, but we also stand by our promise that we will deliver, as we have delivered in the past, we will continue to deliver and honour the sacred trust that was given to us today by FIFA and the executive committee members.”

Qatar bid CEO Hassan Al-Thawadi said hosting the World Cup in the Middle East will allow his nation to dispel the stereotype that it is an unsafe area of the world.

“What some of the views have always been is that the Middle East might not be the most hospitable of places, but we are a very very hospitable place that welcomes everybody from all parts of the world, and many people from many nationalities have made their home in the Middle East,” Al-Thawadi said.

“Bringing the World Cup to the Middle East now and FIFA’s momentous decision today will showcase to the world that the Middle East is home to many people, is opening its arms to the rest of the world and in doing so, such misconceptions will be dissolved.”