DOHA: With Qatar under increasing pressure and scrutiny as the 2022 World Cup host, Hassan Al-Thawadi, the project’s top official, says he’s “comfortable and confident” FIFA won’t take the tournament from his country.

“We are always comfortable and confident that the World Cup will not move from Qatar,” said Al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee.

The FIFA board chaired by President Sepp Blatter will also debate on Friday if the 2022 tournament should be switched from the scheduled June-July dates.

Al-Thawadi said he had “no expectations” about a FIFA decision, and that Qatar is comfortable with any timetable for FIFA to choose which months are best to play in.

Al-Thawadi also defended Qatar’s record on protecting migrant workers.

Al-Thawadi met with reporters in a Zurich hotel near where FIFA’s executive committee was discussing the labor issue at a two-day meeting which opened on Thursday. Trade union activists protested at the football body’s gates.

The Qatari government said earlier it commissioned an independent review of conditions for more than one million migrant workers.

Stressing Qatar’s plan to link a summer World Cup with humanitarian projects, Al-Thawadi said air-cooling technology being developed for stadiums and team training sites could be used in greenhouses to improve food production.

“We are confident of our position, we are confident of what we have done, we’re confident of our promises, we’re confident of our ability to deliver promises,” he said.

Walter De Gregorio, FIFA communications chief, said: “I want to highlight that it›s not FIFA against Qatar. We are all on the same page, trying to change the situation for the better of everyone.”