Former Saudi Arabian football legend Sami Al Jaber called on the Middle East to unite behind the Qatar World Cup 2022 against criticism the summer heat in the Gulf state will be an obstacle to hosting the tournament, it was reported.
“First of all I would like to encourage everyone in the Middle East to unite as one, because we don’t just represent Qatar, we represent the Middle East. It is a region which has the right to host the World Cup and the ability to host the World Cup,” said Al Jaber, who represented Saudi Arabia at four consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments from 1994 to 2006.
“We are talking about 750 million people in the Middle East, who are waiting for that moment, waiting for that opportunity, to host the World Cup as one of our rights for the people of the Middle East, the Arab world, and the Gulf. The World Cup is always hosted in Europe and South America, it was also held in Africa. We have never had the opportunity, but now we do with the 2022 World Cup and it’s an important tournament that I hope we can host successfully. I came back today after four years. Back then I saw Qatar 2022 as ideas and a concept, and now I have seen it develop and it is being made into a reality and implemented on the ground,” he said at the weekend during a visit to the headquarters of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) in Doha.
“I always follow what is published about Qatar, and sometimes what I see and read makes me laugh. I experienced Qatar’s bid since its inception and I know the potential that exists in Qatar. I believe that this campaign will not stop until the tournament, so we must always be ready to face such circumstances and to deal with any problem that may arise in the future,” he was quoted as saying by the Qatar Football Association (QFA).
Despite the resources being thrown at high-tech cooling techniques, scepticism about Qatar's ability to stage a World Cup in the summer have not gone away. Last week, Theo Zwanziger, the former German football association (DFB) chief and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, suggested the tournament would have to move because of scorching temperatures, which can reach into the mid 40s Celsius in the summer.
"I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar," he told Sport Bild magazine in Germany. "Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions."
However, Al Jaber, who was the first ambassador for Qatar’s 2022 bid, dismissed the views as he was briefed on the cooling technology developed for the tournament.
“During my visit, I was briefed on the details of the cooling technology and I think we need such technology in football, not only in our region, but for any country with the same climate. I remember how we suffered from the heat and climate during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where the games began at 12:30 and the temperature and humidity affected the performance of our players,” he said.
Late last week, Qatar’s Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, echoed the views when he said the Gulf state was capable of hosting the tournament in summer or winter and heat would not be an issue.
“Our (World Cup) bid was for summer. At the end it will up to FIFA to decide when (to host the event). But for us we are ready for both because we have this (cooling) technology,” Sheikh Tamim said during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“Our bid for was for it (the World Cup) to be in summer. (But) we have a new technology that is being used in a stadium for the last 10 years now… It works in one of the stadiums (Al Sadd Stadium). We tried it for 10 years. It will work (in 2022 also). It will be working 100 percent.
“The facilities for the athletes, fans and the players and the training grounds will be excellent. We have tried this. We tried (cooling) the fans zones in Qatar (when the last World Cup was held in Brazil). Thousands of fans turned up so we know heat won’t be a problem,” the Emir added.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in May that awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a 'mistake' and the tournament would probably have to be held in the European winter.
"The Qatar technical report indicated clearly that it is too hot in summer, but the executive committee with quite a big majority decided all the same that the tournament would be in Qatar," he said.
FIFA is looking at the option of shifting the tournament to January/February 2022 or November/December 2022 - both of which would be unpopular because of disruption to the domestic seasons in Europe and around the world.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa chaired a meeting to discuss the matter earlier this month.
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