15 March 2014

‘We are fully aware of the challenges we face as the State is preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. While those challenges are far-reaching and extremely complex, the responsibility of contributing to the solution to these problems is something that we are completely dedicated to.

This commitment makes it all the more disappointing to read an entire section in the International Trade Union Confederation’s report dedicated to the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacylittered with factual errors and attempts to discredit the positive work we are undertaking. No one has died on World Cup projects.

The most fundamental error in the report is the fact that the employee accommodation referenced on page 17 is not where the construction workers who are building the new Al Wakrah Stadium, a proposed Host Venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, live. The International Trade Union Confederation’s report described accommodations underneath the bleachers of Al Wakrah Sports Club’s current stadium.

Our 108 construction workers live in a refurbished accommodation on Street No. 23 in Doha’s Industrial Area, which has been visited by TV crews from Reuters and ZDF in the past weeks. The International Trade Union Confederation never visited our accommodation, nor requested to do so.

Moreover, had the International Trade Union Confederation approached Al Wakrah Sports Club with their findings they would have learnt that the club are in the process of completing a new accommodation facility within the complex for their employees who currently reside in the accommodations referenced in the International Trade Union Confederation’s report.

This accommodation, which contains 24 rooms with kitchens and living rooms, will be completed at the end of the month. Each room will house a maximum of two to three employees.

Our Workers’ Welfare Standards clearly regulate working and living conditions and are being implemented on our first stadium and accommodation sites, as demonstrated in the photos and videos that have been shared with you today. Since January 2014, the Supreme Committee’s Workers’ Welfare Committee has conducted three successful inspections to enforce and monitor this implementation. The International Trade Union Confederation’s statement that our Standards have no credible enforcement mechanism is hence both incorrect and misleading.

We know that there are issues. While this process of change is not something that can be achieved overnight, we have the will and the commitment to see it through. We are already seeing the fruits of our partnerships with leading international organisations on the ground. We welcome further international support of this type in order to achieve our goals.’