FIFA president Gianni Infantino yesterday gave his full support  for Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup. Speaking during his first visit to Doha as president of world football’s governing body, Infantino said: “Of course, the World Cup will take place in Qatar in 2022.”
Ever since Qatar  won the bid to host the  showpiece of world football six years ago, local authorities have spent considerable time and energy tackling  allegations, coming mainly from Western agencies.  Most of these allegations were  spectacularly off the mark. Some of them were brazenly racist, implying   that any country in the Arab world is simply incapable of pulling off an event of such magnitude.
Infantino gave a fitting reply to those critics yesterday by saying that   he had no doubt that the 2022 World Cup would leave behind a lasting legacy that would be cherished by generations of Arabs and Qataris in particular.
“We are convinced that the real impact of the World Cup in 2022 would be tremendous, absolutely huge,” said Infantino. “This is the first World Cup in the Arab world. As far as FIFA is concerned it will be not only a World Cup of football but a World Cup of inclusion, a World Cup of respect, a World Cup of tolerance and unity. I am convinced about that and the fact that this will be the legacy the World Cup will see.”
Also yesterday, Infantino announced the creation of an oversight body with independent members to monitor the systems in place to ensure decent working conditions at  World Cup stadiums.
The  new body, which will be led by FIFA, should include sectors of civil society and other relevant FIFA stakeholders to oversee all FIFA competitions. The FIFA president was very pleased by the positive reaction and the support offered by the Qatari authorities for this initiative.
Qatar’s relentless efforts to improve the conditions of workers have already won praise from various quarters.  
The European Union (EU) last week welcomed  Qatar’s legislative developments in this regard.  Political adviser at EU External Action Service Lucia Manrique,  during a meeting with National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) assistant secretary general Sultan bin Hassan al-Jamali,  said the EU looked positively to the efforts taken by Qatar for further improvements on protection of workers’ rights.
Also last week,  a delegation of International Organisation of Employers (IOE) officials praised workers’ conditions in Qatar. The Qatar Chamber organised a  field visit to a delegation from the IOE to check the living conditions in Labour City.
Officials from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the IOE have expressed admiration for Labour City, which is built according to international standards, noting that what they saw had convinced them that Qatar deserved to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and that Qatar was ready to host international tournaments and other sporting events.