Since the hosting of 2022 FIFA World Cup awarded to the State of Qatar in December 2010, many politically motivated malicious cases were filed against the country. When some parties began to question the integrity of the ballot, some went further to accuse Qatar of bribing to win the right of hosting this global sporting event.
The State of Qatar has repeatedly announced that organizing 2022 World Cup in Qatar for the first time in this region is a victory for all and it is for all Arabs, not for Qatar alone, expressing its readiness to support any country from the region bid to host the World Cup in the future.
Despite this, malicious acts took many forms including claiming advocacy of labour’s right, questioning capacity along media campaigns to tarnish its image. Being free of all bribery allegations and reform measures taken to protect labour rights made the country able to curb all unsubstantial claims, as Qatar confirmed that workers’ rights are protected and safeguarded, and the country has become a model for other countries.
Those who do not want to see Qatar play regional and global roles and use its diplomacy and soft leverage in resolving dozens of regional disputes, they did what is possible to undermine Qatar’s reputation, and the case against the Chairman of the beIN Media Group, Nasser Al Khelaifi, fall under these designs seeking to tarnish the image of Qatar and hinder its global success.
However, all attempts have failed and Qatar is moving steadily towards the day Doha will celebrate the launch of the World Cup for the first time in the Middle East.
The State of Qatar, which is confident in the integrity of its procedures, and transparency of deals succeeded in pushing this accusation towards investigation and legal adjudication instead of directing baseless accusations with no evidence or legal basis. Al Khelaifi, who is also President of Paris Saint-Germain, was acquitted on Friday by a court in Switzerland from corruption charges related to World Cup 2026 and 2030 TV rights.
Following the court verdict, Al Khelaifi said in a statement: “After a relentless four-year campaign against me that ignored the basic facts and the law at every turn, I have finally, fully and completely cleared my name. Today’s verdict is a total vindication.
“It restores my faith in the rule of law and in due process, after four years of baseless allegations, fictitious charges and constant smears of my reputation”. All these allegations have been proven to be completely and wholly unsubstantiated and now as he stated he can devote energy on building a positive future for world sport.
