Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 7 June 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:57, 7 June 2022

Well, Llywydd, Adam Price touched on an issue there that we should not duck, should we? You know, we are absolutely delighted that Wales will be represented at Qatar, but we should not look the other way from the reservations that we would have as a nation from some of those human rights issues that we see there. And when my colleague Vaughan Gething was in Qatar in May, he took the opportunity, as he set out in his written statement to the Senedd, to raise those human rights issues directly with Qatari authorities in the context of the World Cup, and we must, ourselves, make sure that those opportunities are not missed while the eyes of the world are on that country.

Here, one of the things that—. As I sat next to the chief executive during the game, there was a man who had a £3 million cheque riding on the result of the game. He knew that if Wales proceeded to the next stage, then part of the way that the World Cup is organised is that £3 million would arrive with the FAW, and he said to me that he was determined that £2 million of that £3 million would be invested in grass-roots football and grass-roots facilities here in Wales. He was absolutely explicit in saying to me that while, of course, that shop window of football in Wales is what we were all watching, what really matters to him and to the FAW is the health of the game at that grass-roots level. It's why the Welsh Government, through Sport Wales, has invested £24 million in recent times in facilities for grass-roots sport in Wales. I very much agree with Adam Price that what we hope to get out of the sort of coverage and exposure that there will be of the World Cup is inspiration to young people to be out there playing football themselves, or taking part in whatever sport they find suits their aptitudes and abilities, and the Welsh Government will be there trying to make sure that we play our part in maximising those opportunities.