It is a long interview granted to the weekly Le Point, through which the Emir of Qatar will have, more or less, covered all the subjects.
And inevitably, two months before its kickoff, that of the World Cup that Qatar will host from November 20 to December 18.
“We are the first Arab country to organize such a world event, he was initially proud.
This is very important for young people, especially those in the Arab world.
Hundreds of thousands of people will come.
Everyone, whoever they are, whatever their origin or culture, will be welcome.
We want these visitors to learn the differences between cultures, to discover the culture of Qatar, and we hope that they will want to come back.
»
Despite his apparent optimism, the Emir of Qatar is likely to be the country's head of state hosting one of the most controversial World Cups in history.
Among the many criticisms that regularly return to the peninsula, the question of ecology.
"I think every country should have the chance to organize sporting events but sometimes the climate can be an obstacle," he replied.
We have used state-of-the-art technology to minimize water and energy consumption during the World Cup, to make it a more sustainable event.
He thus recalled that “the Education City stadium, for example, like the Lusail Stadium, which will host the final,
and Stadium 974 have achieved five-star sustainability certification under the Gulf Organization for Research and Development's Global Sustainability Assessment System.
»
“Some criticism continues no matter what we do”
On the question of the working conditions of workers on construction sites, he also defends himself.
“We understood that we had a problem with the work on the construction sites, and we took strong measures in record time.
We changed the law and we punish anyone who mistreats an employee;
we have opened our doors to NGOs and we cooperate with them.
We are proud of it.
For him, "there are two kinds of criticism": those which provide "advice or a warning, and we take them seriously", and then "those which continue whatever we do".
“These are people who do not accept that an Arab Muslim country like Qatar hosts the World Cup.
Those will find any pretext to denigrate us.
»
He also mentioned Qatar's investment in PSG, a Qatari property for ten years now.
“Sport is not a business like any other.
If you want to invest, whatever the sport, it is necessary to have a passion for this sport.
Otherwise, you're wasting your money.
But if managed properly, the value of the project grows.
This is what happened with PSG.
The Qataris are proud of the decade spent with PSG.
Sport is a key part of our DNA.
»