NATO to provide security at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

Europe, Middle East, News June 26, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expressed its readiness to provide security for the world’s biggest sporting event, FIFA World Cup 2022.

An official statement released by NATO stated that the North Atlantic Alliance would provide the security for the FIFA (International Federation of Football Association) event as a part of close cooperation between the State of Qatar and NATO.

“The support will include training against threats posed by Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) materials, which will be delivered by Slovakia and NATO’s Joint CBRN Defence Centre of Excellence in the Czech Republic,” the alliance said in a statement.

“A first training session dealing with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats was conducted this past May in Slovakia,” it added.

Romania would provide training for the protection of the VIPs (Very Important People) and to counter the possible threats of improvised explosive devices.

The statement also noted that “The State of Qatar is a committed partner of NATO and has been actively engaged with the Atlantic Alliance for many years.”

*^{NATO security personnel during training against Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

FIFA World Cup 2022 is the first-ever winter World Cup that would take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18. It includes participation from 32 different teams in 8 groups.

Turkey, a NATO member state, also announced earlier this year in January that it would send 3,250 security personnel to Qatar during the FIFA World Cup 2022 to carry out security duties.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that his country would send 3,000 riot police officers, 100 Turkish Special Forces personnel, 50 bomb detection dogs with their operators, and 50 explosive experts as well as other administrative staff. Turkey has also trained 677 Qatari security personnel in 38 different professional areas. Soylu added that “at this event, which over a million fans from across the world are expected to attend, our personnel will ensure security.”

Apart from NATO and its member states, several other countries have offered to provide security services to Qatar for the grand sporting event including Pakistan and Morocco. So far, event management authorities of the FIFA World Cup have not specified what would be the share of deployment for all the incoming security crews.