Doha: The CEO of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Nasser Al Khater, has denounced the allegations by some sections of the Western media about tournament organizers using expatriate fans to attend matches in exchange for money, as part of the systematic smear campaigns that have increased in recent times, with the imminent kick-off of the most prominent sporting event in the world in Qatar.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Khater said that some of the reports published by some English and French newspapers about hiring migrant workers to pose as fans to attend matches are completely false, describing these allegations as a new attempt to defame and question the ability of Qatar to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Al Khater added that since Qatar won the honour of hosting the World Cup, there have been continuous attempts over the past 12 years to defame this tournament, stressing that Qatar will organize an exceptional tournament, and this will be clear in a few days.
In his statement to QNA, Al Khater affirmed his rejection of the belittlement of a group of people living in Qatar, noting that some of them have lived in Qatar for more than 30 years.
"It is shameful to belittle those fans who will be watching the World Cup matches and describe them as paid workers, for a World Cup that has sold 3.1 million tickets so far," Al Khater said, stressing that the residents of Qatar are very passionate about football.
In a message to all residents of Qatar, Al Khater stated that the World Cup Qatar 2022 is a tournament for everyone and represents Qatar, its people (citizens and residents), as well as the Gulf countries and the entire region.
On Sunday, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will commence as the first edition to be held in the Arab region and the Middle East.
Qatar's national team will play the opening match against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium.
It is worth noting that the campaigns of false fabrications crossed all limits in an attempt to undermine Qatar and question its capabilities and the efforts it made over the years to host the World Cup in an Arab and Muslim country for the first time.
The fabrications, allegations, and malicious campaigns against Qatar have recently taken a different turn by adopting a systematic racist discourse that incites hatred and aims to offend the country without real justifications.
What the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is exposed to amounts to intellectual and media terrorism and a psychological warfare based on racist pretexts from some parties that do not like the realization of Arab generations' dream to organize the tournament in Qatar.
