Despite what Dr. Theo Zwanziger has said and what was shared by news sites like Al Arabiya, the 2022 World Cup is indeed still happening in Qatar.

Apparantly, Dr. Theo thinks that his personal opinion trumps process and that he speaks for the board and organization. Some users on twitter questioned whether Dr. Theo had even read the Qatar Bid proposal or even visited the country.

Nasser Al Khater, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing for the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy issued the following statement,

“Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, despite comments of FIFA Executive Committee member Dr. Zwanziger, which reflect his personal opinion and not that of FIFA. The only question now is WHEN, not IF. Summer or winter, we will be ready. We have proven that a FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the summer is possible with state-of-the-art cooling technology. We have demonstrated that our cooling works in outdoor areas beyond stadiums. This summer we welcomed fans in Doha to an open-air Brazil 2014 Fan Zone with temperatures cooled to a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius. The evolution of environmentally-friendly cooling technologies is an important legacy for our nation, region and for countries with similar climates - promising to expand the reach of hosting major sporting events to countries where it was never thought possible before.”

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Khalifa Al Haroon

Your friendly neighborhood Qatari

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