![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image_2022-10-26_163200571-696x464.png\" "\\"Qatar's")
Qatar\u2019s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says his country has faced an \u201cunprecedented campaign\u201d of criticism in the lead-up to this year\u2019s football World Cup.<\/p>\n
World football\u2019s governing body FIFA in 2010 awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, and the host has since spent hundreds of billions of dollars in preparation for the tournament that is due to kick off on November 20.<\/p>\n
Throughout, the energy-rich Gulf state has faced constant scrutiny over its treatment of foreign workers, as well as LGBTQ and women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSince we won the honour of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced,\u201d Sheikh Tamim said in a speech on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe initially dealt with the matter in good faith, and even considered that some criticism was positive and useful, helping us to develop aspects of ours that need to be developed,\u201d the emir told Qatar\u2019s legislative council.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it soon became clear to us that the campaign continues, expands and includes fabrication and double standards, until it reached a level of ferocity that made many question, unfortunately, about the real reasons and motives behind this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said the upcoming World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East, will be the \u201cbest ever\u201d.<\/p>\n
In August 2020, Qatar\u00a0announced landmark changes\u00a0to its labour laws, including scrapping the need for workers to obtain their employer\u2019s permission \u2013 in the form of a no-objection certificate \u2013 before changing jobs.<\/p>\n
Other labour work reforms include the\u00a0abolishment of the kafala\u00a0system, the introduction of a minimum wage, and cancelling the requirement for workers to get exit permits from their employers to leave the country.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n 2022 WC: Black Stars will do us the honour \u2013 Speaker of Parliament<\/strong><\/p>\n Earlier this year, Hassan al-Thawadi, head of Qatar\u2019s World Cup organising committee, said the labour reforms achieved by Qatar have been \u201chistorical\u201d and the event would leave \u201ctruly transformational social, human, economic and environmental legacies\u201d.<\/p>\n In recent years, human rights groups have reported extensively on the abuse suffered by migrant workers building World Cup stadiums.<\/p>\n In May, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, along with eight other organisations, sent\u00a0a letter to Infantino calling for FIFA and Qatar to compensate families of workers who died in the build-up to the World Cup.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n