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DOHA, Qatar - Qatars sports minister says the 2022 World Cup will set a benchmark of excellence that will be almost impossible to beat and promised in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that the Gulf nation will implement labour reforms in the next few months.Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali also insisted that Qatar wouldnt jeopardize its hosting of the World Cup and ambitions of being at the front and centre of sports by funding terrorism.He was vague on whether alcohol will be sold inside World Cup stadiums and how gay fans will be welcomed at the 2022 tournament.The minister left no doubt that Qatar wants its World Cup — financed with vast oil-and-gas wealth — to stun the world. He said the Middle East needs something like this. Its hope. Its giving the youth in this region really a positive event that can change a lot of their hopes and dreams.Qatars name is now a brand related to quality, to luxury. We will not jeopardize this brand (by) holding a World Cup that is not successful, the minister said. He anticipated that on opening night in 2022, hell be saying to himself: God help the country that will host the World Cup after us.Really. I will stick to that. You will see that we will put a benchmark that is going to be almost impossible to beat.On allegations that Qatar supports the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and other extremists, al-Ali insisted it would make no sense for a country that wants to hold the World Cup and big events almost every year to be financing terror.This is ridiculous, the minister said. The countrys ruling emir has also said Qatar doesnt support terrorists, but the minister expanded on the reasoning for that.Citing the example of Afghanistan, which became an al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold after the United States armed and financed anti-Soviet fighters there in the 1980s, the minister said: If you support any terrorist group it will not bring you any good. It is only going to haunt you one day.So we dont believe in that, we dont do that, he said. We are not ready anyway to take that risk because we know its dangerous for us.But it was al-Alis vigorous insistence that Qatar will tackle the ill-treatment of migrant workers which stood out most in the 90-minute interview in a luxury hotel overlooking the Aspire sports academy in Doha, the capital, where young players who will make up Qatars 2022 squad are being hot-housed.Qatar qualifies automatically for the tournament as hosts.The minister said his own father worked as a 12-year-old labourer in the oil industry in very hard conditions that today would be like child abuse.We understand this problem. For us, its a human question, he said. Qataris arent vicious people who are like vampires, he added. We have emotions, we feel bad.Human rights groups have documented ill-treatment in Qatar of migrant workers from Asia and Africa and conditions they say amount to forced labour.Critics accuse Qatars government of being slow to act and warn that labourers flooding into the country to build World Cup stadiums, rail networks, roads, hotels and other massive public works will be vulnerable to abuse if Qatar doesnt change and better enforce its laws. Such problems arent unique to Qatar and have long been an issue across the Gulf, but the World Cup has shone the spotlight on the 2022 host.We are under focus now which, OK, its tough, al-Ali said. It is something that really needs big, big work from us. But we are really tackling this problem face-to-face. We are not hiding.Although World Cup organizers introduced mandatory welfare obligations for contractors in the last year, changes to the labour law were only proposed by the Qatari government in May.Al-Ali said those reforms have now been through cabinet and will get final approval in the next few months.Critics say the changes dont go far enough. But al-Ali said Qatars measures could drive change across the Gulf, perhaps even upsetting some neighbours.It is going to be good for not only the labourers in Qatar but in the whole region, which might upset some people.On other issues:—Al Ali said creative solutions can be found to allow alcohol sales to visiting World Cup fans. For now, alcohol is only sold in selected Doha hotels and visitors must show their passports to enter these bars. Residents with a license to shop there can also buy alcohol in a government-run store. But World Cup organizer FIFA has a sponsorship deal with a brewer and it leaned on Brazil, the last tournament host, to allow beer sales in its 2014 World Cup stadiums. Asked specifically about alcohol in 2022 stadiums, the minister offered no guarantee.In the hotels and many areas we have alcohol but we have also our own system that people need to respect, he said. As we bid for 2022, we will respect all the rules and regulations by FIFA. We can study this and minimize the impact on our people and tradition. I think we can be creative, finding solutions for all of this. But we respect all the rules and regulations.—Asked how gay people will be welcomed in 2022, al-Ali replied: Its exactly like the alcohol question.He said Qatar doesnt want to create this impression, illusion that we dont care about our tradition and our ethical values ... We are studying all these issues. We can adapt, we can be creative to have people coming and enjoying the games without losing the essence of our culture and respecting the preference of the people coming here. I think there is a lot we can do.—The minister minimized the impact of an apparent sports boycott by two of Qatars neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. They are pulling teams from the mens World Handball Championships that Qatar is hosting in January. This follows the withdrawal of their ambassadors from Doha in March. They and Saudi Arabia, which also withdrew its ambassador, are unhappy with Qatars support of Islamist groups across the region.Still, al-Ali insisted that the handball tournament is going to be very successful and said sports should unite nations.It makes me happy when people use sports to solve differences and get together and away from politics.___Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and John Leicester at www.twitter.com/JohnLeicester Adidas NHL Jerseys 2020 . 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Duck Calling With several marquee centres available via trade and expected to be available via free agency, the Anaheim Ducks could be primed to be big players in the coming days. Cheap NHL Jerseys From China . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki doesnt want the Dallas Mavericks feeling too comfortable during a franchise-record eight-game homestand. The Boston Celtics never let them rest easy in the opener. Nowitzki led another balanced scoring effort with 19 points, and the Mavericks held off several Boston runs in a 94-89 victory against the Celtics on Monday night. The Celtics wiped out most of two double-digit deficits in the second half and were within one in the final minute but couldnt avoid an 0-15 finish on the road against the Western Conference. "They just kept coming back at us," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Theyve got some young, aggressive guys that are hungry and they were hitting shots." The Mavericks followed their first win in more than two years over possible first-round playoff foe Oklahoma City by taking their third straight to get a season-high 14 games over .500. Dallas didnt have a 20-point scorer for the third time in four games, the exception being Nowitzkis 31-point night in a win at Utah. Monta Ellis had 17 points, and Devin Harris added 12. Jerryd Bayless had 19 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Kris Humphries matched a season high with 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who lost their fifth straight game and 12th in the past 15. It was the second time in as many nights the Celtics made it interesting after trailing by 10 with 6 minutes to go. The first was an overtime loss at New Orleans, and this one was without Rajon Rondo, who sat on the second night of a back-to-back for the sixth time. He is skipping such games as he works his way back from right knee surgery. "Playing without Rondo, I thought Jerryd played fantastic, especially in that fourth quarter," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "He gave us a chance to win." The Mavericks went up 90-85 when Brandan Wright had the last of his 10 points on a putback after three other misses, but the Celtics did the same thing at the other end, capped by a bucket from Kelly Olynyk, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. Avery Bradley stole the ball from Ellis and went in for a dunk to make it 90-89 with 21 seconds left, but Ellis hit two free throws and Bayless missed a driving shot, got the ball back and had a second attempt blocked by Vince Carter. "I think we were fightingg and battling well," Bayless said.dddddddddddd "I think everyone played well, but we werent able to pull it off tonight." Ellis, playing through an illness for the second straight night, had seven points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer for an 85-80 lead with 2:16 remaining. He took three charges and stayed down for a minute or so after a hard one in the second half. "It feels good with a win, but Ive been having trouble breathing," said Ellis, who matched Sam Dalembert for the team lead in rebounds with seven and had four assists to go with five turnovers. "I really try to block it out and do whatever I need to do." Boston had four chances to get closer down 64-61 to start the fourth but missed three shots and had a turnover before Harris made a couple of free throws and Wright dunked off a feed from Carter to push the lead back to seven. The lead was back down to four when Harris and Wright hooked for their second alley-oop dunk and Harris poked the ball away from Phil Pressey, dove for the loose ball to grab it from Olynyk and threw a pass from the floor to Nowitzki running ahead of everyone for another dunk and a 74-66 lead. "I almost tore both of my flexors trying to chase that ball, but Im glad I got to it," said Nowitzki, who was 6 of 17 from the field. "That was a big play from Devin." The Celtics looked like they would go down without much of a fight early, falling behind 33-24 in the second quarter when Brandan Wright had an alley-oop dunk from Devin Harris in a combination thats getting more common. But Boston had the first of several big runs at 13-0 with baskets from five different players. Pressey hit one of his two first-half 3-pointers, Chris Johnson scored from long range and Bradley hit a layup. After stealing a pass for a dunk, Olynyk assisted on a three-point play by Jared Sullinger, who led all scorers with 11 in the first half and finished with 13. NOTES: Celtics F Jeff Green had five points on 2-of-12 shooting a night after matching his season high with 39 in the loss at New Orleans. ... Wright was 5 of 5 from the field and is shooting 71 per cent this month. ... Green and Sullinger matched Olynyk with nine rebounds as Boston outrebounded Dallas 57-36. The Celtics had a 21-6 edge in offensive rebounds. ' ' '