Self-belief helped Qatar deliver a great World Cup: al-Thawadi

The secretary general of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy HE Hassan al-Thawadi, noted that Qatar’s stupendous delivery of FIFA World Cup 2002 was due to the self-belief in setting up goals and realising them.
Al-Thawadi was interacting with Ayman Mohyeldin of MSNBC at the ongoing Web Summit Qatar 2024 Tuesday at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.
“What guided us all through the preparation to the World Cup was the unwavering belief in our ability as we set very ambitious goals which guided our team to achieve them. Our leadership believed and supported us thoroughly to realise our goals. We harnessed this opportunity to try to achieve every single aspect of that opportunity and finally delivered a great tournament,” al-Thawadi said.
Al-Thawadi said that for 13 years, the entire organising team went through many difficult cycles and different challenges. “Every challenge we faced was an opportunity for us in achieving our goals. We had various difficulties but never ever did any doubt creep into our minds,” he noted.
“It was the self-belief that took us forward despite criticism from various corners and cynicism that was raised against hosting the World Cup in Qatar. People raised several doubts about the compact World Cup, about the infrastructure as well several other aspects of the tournament. We entered into the process of hosting the World Cup knowing exactly what we wanted and what we can do,” explained, al-Thawadi.
The official noted that building the bridges between the cultures was very important part of the whole effort. He said: “We were confident right from the beginning that we have a very talented population capable of accomplishing and achieving many things. It was the belief that the Arab World as well as the Middle East has the capability to set its own narrative and write its own story. In a sense, it was welcoming the entire world to be part of our story.”
Al-Thawadi said that as a nation, Qatar always believes in the transformative power of sports and that is how the country approached the World Cup 2022.
“We had hosted several major events but nothing of the magnitude of World Cup. We had worked with the previous World Cups, Champions League as well as Olympics to understand closely about major events and by 2022 we had a great team of workforce who had every idea of hosting the biggest sporting event in the world. Any major event that comes to Qatar will be elevated to the next level for the better,” he added.