Nagpur: As Qatar continues to face backlash regarding its treatment of migrant workers who built the World Cup stadiums, Shahid Ali, an engineer from Maharashtra’s Nagpur — who was part of the construction team of the stadium in Qatar where the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 was held on Sunday, November 20, — recalled the challenging task of building it, according to a media reports.
According to Shahid Ali, working in Qatar during extreme temperatures was a challenging task. “It feels really good to see the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at Qatar Stadium. It is a proud feeling to be a part of the construction team of the stadium,” he added.
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According to the reports, Ali went to Qatar in 2017 and said that he worked alongside people from more than 35 countries during construction. “I went to Qatar in 2017 when the construction work for the stadium had just started. People from over 35 countries including China, UK and Australia were working with us. There were Indians from the ground level (labourers) to top management (directors) in Qatar,” he said.
Human rights abuse in the country continues to take centre-stage even as FIFA World Cup 2022 was flagged off on November 20. Several European cities have decided not to screen the matches in public spaces — as was the tradition — to protest against Qatar. The move was also made to take a stand against the country’s policies towards the LGBTQ community since same-sex relationship is illegal in Qatar and is punishable by up to three years in jail.
For the tournament, Qatar has built several world-class stadiums. The stadiums were built with the help of Indian labourers as well. Engineer Shahid Ali of Nagpur, described his thrilling experience while remembering back on the challenging task of constructing the stadium.
In Qatar’s stadium’s construction, Shahid Ali was a member of the crew. FIFA World Cup 2022’s opening ceremony took place on Sunday. Ali expressed his delight at seeing the FIFA World Cup 2022 opening ceremony at the Qatar Stadium while addressing the media. He said that during the inauguration “I was proud that I was a part of the stadium construction team.”
32 teams to participate in the month-long tournament
The FIFA World Cup 2022, which is the biggest tournament in football, began on November 20 and will last through December 18. The 64 matches of this tournament will be played in eight stadiums in Qatar. A total of 32 clubs from five groups will participate in the competition for the highest football award. In 29 days, 64 games will be played in total.
