Doha, November 06 (QNA) – FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Sunday that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be the best ever.
This came during his speech within the activities of the fifth edition of the Empowerment Forum organized by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in Doha under the slogan “Championship for All”.
Infantino added that “the eight World Cup stadiums were built to the highest standards to ensure easy access and unobstructed viewing.”
Infantino confirmed, “The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be the most accessible of the World Cup tournaments, since 1930, organized by FIFA,” pointing out that “more than 6,500 volunteers have been trained to deal with people with disabilities.”
The Empowerment Forum is concerned with involving people with special needs in a championship and creating a sustainable legacy for them.
Through this initiative, football fans, blind and visually impaired, will be able to experience the opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament through audio description services that are being used for the first time, according to the organizers.
HE Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy Hassan Al-Thawadi said: “In two weeks from now, we will see the efforts of the Forum, which contributed to making all World Cup facilities accessible to all.”
He added, “The commitment to empowering people with disabilities to access and enjoy all the facilities of the tournament has been at the heart of our work since the beginning of planning for the tournament, not only during the World Cup period, but we wanted to extend this legacy to future generations.”
He explained, “Besides the material legacy of the championship, there is a moral legacy that we will touch as a result of these efforts in the various health and educational sectors and in the work environment to empower people with disabilities. We have succeeded in meeting the required standards, and we have even improved and modified them to become the best it can be.”
Khaled Al Suwaidi, the SC’s Stakeholder Relations Director said that during the Empowerment Forum since Qatar won the honor of hosting, he was sure that the championship is for everyone, confirming that this has been reflected in the preparation for the event since the start of construction works, especially the eight stadiums that will host the matches, and the public transport network, and the fan experience has been integrated since the arrival of people with disabilities to the ports of Qatar passing to the residences and fan areas, talking about the important role by involving the disabled community in the design of stadiums and facilities of the tournament.
He added that the facilities of the tournament are accessible to people with disabilities, with audio commentary in Arabic for the first time in history, highlighting that everyone who will visit Doha during the World Cup will enjoy a unique experience.
He concluded that hosting this tournament has been instrumental in enhancing accessibility in Qatar, as over the past decade Qatar has witnessed a significant development in the accessibility of public transport, heritage sites, and public places across the country for people with disabilities.
For his part, Khalid Al Naama, SC’s spokesman, said that the 5th and final edition of the Empowerment Forum celebrate the efforts of six years of continuous work from all stakeholders in the State of Qatar to facilitate the lives of people with disabilities.
Qatar Legacy Ambassador and football legend Khalid Al Muhannadi confirmed that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is a championship for everyone. This initiative was keen to empower people with disabilities and integrate them into society.
He explained that the SC pays special attention to the category of people with disabilities through facilitated services to suit the needs of people with disabilities, in addition to the ease of digital access and web accessibility project, which aims to enhance the ability of this category to access digital content and digital technologies, as well as audio description services for the blind and visually impaired in the championship stadiums and benefit from them to the fullest.
The Forum’s sessions discussed the most important outputs of the initiatives launched by the SC in the past editions of the Forum, the experience of mobility for fans with disabilities, sensory rooms in the championship stadiums and the legacy that this edition of the World Cup will leave.
A football match was held between the members of the Qatari Center of Social Cultural for the Deaf and the ambassadors of the Qatar Legacy Program amid a festive atmosphere.
Adel Khamis, ambassador of the Qatar Legacy Program, said that the success of organizing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 depends on the concerted efforts of all parties, expressing confidence in Qatar’s ability to organize one of the best tournaments in the world.
On the same level, Ahmed Habib, media content officer at the SC, commented that the event allocated for the Empowerment Forum was dedicated to introducing the multiple benefits provided by the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 for people with disabilities. (QNA)