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SPORTS Tuesday 27 November 2018

Qatar's evolution a work in progress as 2022 World Cup nears

By WILL GRAVES The questions about
AP Sports Writer worker's rights are one of
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Nasser many Qataris have grown
Al-Khater glances out his accustomed to addressing.
window across Doha Bay. They stress they are taking
The view is far different great pains to answer
than it was eight years ago, them one by one. Do that
when al-Khater served and Qataris believe the
as part of the team that conversation will turn away
helped Qatar pull off a from "should Qatar be
staggering upset to land hosting the World Cup?" to
the 2022 FIFA World Cup. "can Qatar pull it off?"
In the distance the bare On that front, the answers
bones of Ras Abu Aboud are far less nebulous.
Stadium are being Qatar is intent on putting
laid, perhaps the most on a show, but doing it
audacious and innovative creatively and financially
of the eight venues that responsibly.
will play host to the biggest In an era of bloat where
tournament on the planet. budgets for big ticket
Four years out, everything events like the World Cup
appears to be running on and the Olympics are
schedule, from stadium calculated and then blown
construction — including up, Qatar is determined to
at Ras Abu Aboud, which In this Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 picture men perform modernization work on the Khalifa prove it can dazzle without
will incorporate 1,000 International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Associated Press saddling itself with hulking
shipping containers while stadiums left unoccupied
offering a sweeping view from India, Pakistan, Nepal It also required contractors the World Cup has already once the party ends.
of Doha's downtown skyline and other Asian nations, who bring in workers from made a lasting impact. The majority of the venues
— to finding the right grass much like it has in other other nations to reimburse "I think we should be very used in the World Cup
that can both meet FIFA's oil-rich sheikhdoms in employees for any proud of ourselves," al- will have their capacity
exacting standards while the region. As oil prices recruitment fee they paid Khater told The Associated diminished from 40,000 to
also providing a long-term crashed below $30 a barrel to an outside agency to Press from his office in the 20,000 after tournament,
benefit to the Arabian in 2016, construction firms facilitate their placement. 33rd floor of the shimmering with the sections taken
Peninsula. in Qatar and elsewhere in Amnesty International, glass-ensconced Supreme out then put up for sale.
Yet logistics are only a the region suffered. Some Human Rights Watch and Committee for Delivery What's left will serve as the
portion of Qatar's story. stopped paying staffers on other activists say more and Legacy building in home pitches for the local
The small country of 2.7 time, if at all. needs to be done. There Doha's West Bay. professional teams.
million — only 300,000 of Others seized workers' have been two reported "And I think people should Ras Abu Aboud won't exist
them actual Qatari citizens passports or otherwise deaths at Qatar's World take a look at everything at all. After a champion
— has spent the better part abused Qatar's "kafala" Cup projects. that's happened here in is crowned, it will be
of a decade grappling system that ties expatriate While al-Khater, deputy- the past eight years when it meticulously taken apart
with the white-hot spotlight workers to a single secretary general of the comes to worker's welfare. and dismantled to make
landing the World Cup employer. World Cup organizing Look at the progress and way for a mixed-use area
provides. In recent months, Qatar committee, understands I think it's a case study. I that will feature housing
The construction boom that ended a requirement for "this is an area we're going believe right now in the and shops.
accompanied the winning some workers to seek their to have to do a lot of work," Middle East we are basically Other innovations could
bid has been built on the employers' permission he points to the headway ahead of everyone else lead to more far-reaching
backs of migrant laborers before leaving the country. made since 2010 as proof when it comes to this." changes.q

French-American man abandons attempt to swim Pacific

Associated Press "We've faced treacher- Japan's Pacific coast
TOKYO (AP) — A French- ous winds, rain and ocean and was swimming an
American man has given swells that have forced average of eight hours a
up his attempt to swim us to alter our course, day. Violent storms had
across the Pacific Ocean and the irreparable dam- already forced him to in-
after a storm broke the age to the sail is an insur- terrupt the swim after 500
mainsail of his support mountable blow," he said nautical miles and return
ship, organizers said Mon- in a news release. to Japan in late July.
day. The announcement was The mainsail broke on
Ben Lecomte, who had made by Seeker, a San Nov. 10.
completed about 1,500 Francisco-based online The damaged ship and
nautical miles (2,780 kilo- science publisher that Lecomte are slowly mak-
meters) of the 5,000-mile partnered with Lecomte ing their way to Hawaii.
(9,260-kilometer) journey, and has been document- They are collecting data
called the premature end ing his attempt. on plastic pollution in the In this undated photo provided on Nov. 26, 2018, by Seeker, Ben
to the swim a deep disap- Lecomte, of Austin, Texas, ocean, one of the scien- Lecomte swims in the Pacific Ocean.
pointment. set out on June 5 from tific aims of the swim.q Associated Press