Hassan al-Thawadi is a two-faced sportswashing prick. He's also extremely proud of the law degree he earned at University of Sheffield, and the fact that he speaks 4 languages. Little factoids that appear in many online articles about him.
Seems to have a change of heart from what he was spouting to the BBC on March 31, 2022:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60938024Qatar World Cup 2022: Criticism 'ill-informed', says tournament chief Hassan Al-Thawadi Re Qatar's love of football Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan, Al-Thawadi added: "We should not be apologetic over our ambitions to host this tournament because we are football loving region. We are football crazy and football mad like anywhere else. We have the legitimate ambition to showcase our region to the rest of the world and to change people's perception of who we are."
Like fuck they are. They're a nation of 3 million, of which 85% is a migrant workforce. Sounds like many of them can't be bothered to show up to the games.
Digression to what Kane and Southgate said in March 2022 England manager Gareth Southgate has said it would be "a great shame" that some fans will feel they cannot attend the World Cup because of concerns over their safety, while captain Harry Kane said he wants to "shine a light" on the issues surrounding the Qatar tournament.
Also a pair of pricks, who changed their tune.
Al-Thawadi's thoughts on inclusion On how Qatar's laws can be reconciled with football's focus on inclusivity and anti-discrimination, Al-Thawadi said: "We have always said everybody is welcome. What we will ensure is everybody will be safe. Everybody will feel secure. [We are] inviting the world to come to visit Qatar, to visit the Arab world, and to understand again, for us, we're a relatively conservative country, which means public display of affection is something that is not within our culture. But hospitality and welcoming people from different parts of the world into our country is part of our culture. We've done this over the last few years and we have people from different walks of life who have made a home for themselves in Qatar. I think the nature of these tournaments is it allows people from different walks of life to be able to experience and understand different cultures."
Wonder what happened to that welcoming and hospitable nature that is apparently so important to their culture?
Qatar will not change as long as men like al-Thawadi remain in charge. But for us, who hold different values, we must stop participating in events hosted by the likes of Qatar, or start acknowledging that our participation in these events is just seen as validation by the ruling regime, rather than an exposure to something different or a call for change.
When the likes of al-Thawadi come to western countries to get the benefits they publicly enjoy and then return to their own countries to despotically rule over those who have no power, then they should be called out at every turn for their hypocrisy.
