Qatar FM says World Cup on track despite boycott, ‘supply lines fixed’

Qatar is confident that it can host a successful World Cup in 2022 and preparations are fully on track, the foreign minister said on Friday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also deputy prime minister, told Reuters that Qatar’s economy was now growing much faster than anticipated, after a boycott by Gulf neighbors briefly disrupted supply lines last year. Qatar still counts on strong support from US President Donald Trump to help resolve the crisis, the minister said. He added that Doha had filed legal complaints with Western regulators against “currency and market manipulations” by its neighbors. Sheikh Mohammed said in Davos, Switzerland, that Qatar has overcome the disruptions which happened to supplies at the beginning of the crisis, and “alternative routes” have been introduced.