Health, safety and security
Objective: Ensure that safety and security practices at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ are aligned with international standards of human rights protection and tobacco-control at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ sites and events.
The health, safety and security material topic aligns with the following UN SDGs:
Context
Any major sporting event, including the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, presents certain risks to the safety and security of attendees, participants and local communities. Qatar is considered one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the MENA region. It maintains a robust security system and infrastructure to ensure the safety and security of all its residents and visitors, which provided the foundation for the safety and security of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Qatar’s National Command Centre (NCC) directly coordinates the activities of all police and emergency services as well as intelligence and security forces and has experience in the unified coordination and command of major international sports events.
In 2012, the State of Qatar and INTERPOL established Project Stadia, a ten-year project with the aim of helping INTERPOL member countries in planning and executing policing and security preparations for major sporting events. The project brought together best practices and lessons learnt from member countries that have successfully hosted such events, and has since been extended to support future host countries working to secure major international events.
To protect the health and safety of athletes, spectators, and the workforce, FIFA has implemented tobacco-control measures at all the FIFA World Cups™ since 2002 and all FIFA events since 2017. This is in accordance with the FIFA Event Policy on Tobacco which aims to respect and protect the right of the majority of the population, who are non-smokers, to breathe clean air not contaminated by harmful substances found in tobacco products and e-smoking devices. The FIFA policy prohibits smoking and vaping in all official FIFA World Cup™ sites, except in outdoor smoking areas, when these are made available. Also, in accordance with WHO guidelines, it also forbids all links with the tobacco industry in any form by banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, all sales of tobacco products or related tobacco products within event sites and commits to provide information to all relevant stakeholders on the policy. Qatar’s national legislation also prohibits smoking in closed public spaces.
Initiatives
The health, safety and security objective was addressed through the following initiatives: