In 2022 World Cup news, Nasser Al Khater stated that the fans who were seen organising the parades days before the World Cup were genuine and most of them hailed from India.
CEO of the 2022 World Cup, Nasser Al Khater, has responded to allegations that "paid fans" were organising fan rallies in Doha ahead of the World Cup.
He dismissed the claims and suggested that a majority of those fans turned up from Kerala, a state in South India, who are known to be very passionate about football.
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Speaking to media, Nasser Al Khater said, "They are mostly from the Indian community (in Qatar) and those from the south of India especially. I know that in Kerala, football is the number sport. Everyone thinks that cricket is the number one sport but football actually is the number one sport there.
"We have a lot of genuine supporters in Qatar who are from the south of India. They love football and they are genuine fans. We know that they have tournaments that are professionally organised. They have sponsorships, they have a lot of support behind them, organised on a weekly basis and they are true fans of football."
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Hosts Qatar will make their first-ever World Cup appearance against Ecuador in the tournament curtain-raiser on November 20.lot of support behind them, organised on a weekly basis and they are true fans of football."
The Middle East's first World Cup opens on 19 November, the culmination of a 12-year journey since Qatar won a widely tainted vote by FIFA, football's international governing body.
In that time, Mr Al Khater has risen to chief executive of the supreme committee overseeing Qatar's planning and has been in the firing line of criticism.
To host the World Cup, Qatar has had to open up more areas for the sale of alcohol - including outside stadiums and in fan zones - rather than it remaining restricted to hotel bars.
Mass gatherings of boisterous, drunk supporters is unfamiliar territory for the first Muslim nation to host a World Cup.
Mr Al Khater said: "There are plans in place for people to sober up if they've been drinking excessively.
"It's a place to make sure that they keep themselves safe, they're not harmful to anybody else."
Mr Al Khater sidestepped ongoing concerns about whether vote-buying secured the World Cup hosting rights in the vote in 2010, saying he feels Qatar has been unfairly targeted generally.
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