Mayor Eric Adams defended his upcoming trip to Qatar, which he says is necessary to learn more about hosting the World Cup, during an unrelated press conference, answering questions about who’s covering the expenses and his purposes for traveling.
Adams will head to Athens, Greece, tomorrow to attend the 2022 Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, a trip that comes just weeks after a plot against the city’s Jewish community was thwarted following the arrest of two men at Penn Station. The next day, he will travel to Doha, Qatar, in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by New York City and New Jersey at MetLife Stadium.
“The host of the antisemitism mayoral conference, they’re picking that up. For the Qatar trip, it’s on my dime. When I do my dime, I can do my time. I don’t want to hear anyone whine,” Adams said with a laugh. City Hall said that representatives from all the host cities were invited to visit Doha, per the New York Post.
Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup has been fiercely criticized due to accusations of human-rights abuses, its criminalization of homosexuality, and the deaths of migrant workers who built the facilities required for the event.
When asked what Adams could learn from being in Qatar rather than from a phone call, the mayor says it’s part of his approach.
“You have to be on the ground to see what’s going on. I do it in the subway system. I do it in my schools. I do it in my homeless shelters. I do it on NYCHA. This is nothing new,” Adams said.
“We’re getting ready to have the World Cup here,” he continued. “It’s a huge undertaking. Since I’m in the region already to deal with the antisemitism [summit], I’m taking a quick flight on my dime to go inspect what is happening there so that we can be prepared.”
