DÉFENSE ZONE
On 4 August, the National Assembly ratified the partnership between France and Qatar for the security of the 2022 World Cup in Doha.
Signed in 2021 by Édouard Philippe, then Prime Minister, this agreement provides for the participation of more than 200 French experts in securing the event. According to its Article 1, it “aims to establish a partnership combining technical support and operational assistance between the competent services of the two States in the field of security management for major sporting events, in order to ensure a high level of security for the 2022 Football World Cup.” Amélia Lakrafi, member of the foreign affairs committee and rapporteur for the text, gave further details when presenting it to MPs: “the partnership will combine technical support and operational assistance and will include in particular the deployment of personnel and equipment as well as support in the field of aviation security and counter-drone defence”. She specified that “the French ambition is not to deploy large numbers of formed units”. A “final exercise” will take place in October 2022, after which the Qatari authorities may make additional requests. In detail, France plans to send to Doha “21 specialised operators from the GIGN (the Gendarmerie’s elite intervention unit), 170 counter-drone operators, 10 bomb disposal operators, 10 explosive-detection dog teams and 5 to 8 experts provided by the national division for combating football hooliganism.” The agreement anticipates the worst, and special provisions will protect these French personnel from Qatari justice in the event of a problem, in a country where the death penalty is still applied. “These provisions stipulate in particular that every member of the sending party’s personnel will benefit from the guarantees relating to the right to a fair trial [...]; our agents on the ground cannot be subjected to any degrading treatment or to any penalty contrary to our international conventions”, says Amélia Lakrafi.
Moreover, France is not the only foreign country involved in security for the 2022 World Cup: according to a Moroccan media outlet, the kingdom will send a team of cybersecurity experts. NATO has also said it is providing various training courses related to “the threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials” and to “the protection of very important persons and countering the threats posed by improvised explosive devices.”
