During the interview, Sheikh Thamer bin Hamad Al Thani outlined how reporting from The Guardian claiming 6,500 workers have died working on stadium infrastructure is both misleading and 'a far cry from reality. This figure includes all deaths over the past ten years of residents in Qatar from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. However, contrary to what The Guardian claims, not all of these people were working on construction sites.
'Expatriates from these countries also include students, the elderly, and workers employed in offices, retail shops, schools, and hospitals. Qatar has over 1.4 million expatriates from these countries. Only 20% of them are employed as workers in the construction sector, which accounts for less than 10% of all deaths between 2014 and 2019.