Qatar World Cup Official Denies Death of Workers

Nasser Al Khater, the media and marketing director of the Qatar organising committee, has confirmed that no construction workers have been killed during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

As per Mike Collett of Reuters, reports of several deaths have littered worldwide press for over a year but Al Khater was quick to rubbish those rumours during a presentation at the Soccerex Asian Forum on Tuesday.

Al Khater said, via Collett:

"

Contrary to what the international media says there has not been a single injury or death on the World Cup projects.

It's not possible to have 400 deaths when you are still digging a hole in the ground so I would like to make sure this matter is put to rest.

However, we have taken the issue of workers welfare very seriously and made sure that the highest standards in terms of workers welfare are stated in all our contracts.

We have always said the World Cup is a catalyst for change and we welcome the spotlight this issue has brought.

"

Al Khater also revealed that construction has only started on one of the proposed stadiums, but insisted that work would begin on at least five before the end of this year. Qatar have yet to finalise their decision on whether to use eight or 12 stadiums for the 2022 tournament.

The news comes less than a week after the confirmation of a ninth death during preparations for this summer's tournament in Brazil.

Meanwhile, as reported by Jeremy Torr of Air Transport World, Hamad International Airport finally chartered its first commercial flight on May 1.

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