No Nepali workers will be discharged from their jobs even after the FIFA World Cup 2022

KATHMANDU: Amid fear that some Nepali workers in Qatar might lose their jobs after the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, Yousuf Bin Mohammed Al-Hail, ambassador of Qatar to Nepal, clarified that no Nepali workers will be discharged from their work even after conclusion of the soccer world cup.

Talking to Fiscal Nepal, ambassador Yousuf shared that Nepalis have played instrumental role in development of World Cup infrastructure in Qatar and no Nepali workers will have to lose their jobs even after completion of the event. “In fact, Nepali people in Qatar are more like friends than workers and their performance and participation in development process of Qatar is much appreciating. We will continue to recruit Nepalis for different responsibilities in Qatar,” said Yousuf.

Ambassador Yousuf further informed that the workforce demand in Qatar is expected to increase in coming days in line with increasing construction activities in the Arab nation. “Qatar is developing new infrastructure. Moreover, we are hosting number of sport events in next few years which requires massive infrastructure development,” said Yousuf.

Since Qatar was selected to host the World Cup in 2010, the Qatari government has undertaken a massive construction program: eight stadiums, more than 100 hotels, a new airport, three subway lines, a new port, and dozens of other infrastructure projects.

As Qatar is a small country with half million population, infrastructure development in Qatar largely rely on foreign workers. More than two million foreign workers, primarily from Nepal, India and Bangladesh, are employed in Qatar. Of these workers, thousands of migrant workers, including from Nepal, were recruited especially to build the World Cup infrastructure.

FIFA World Cup 2022 is scheduled to start in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world.