About

Aarij S. Wasti has spent much of the last decade working on Qatar’s FIFA World Cup project, first on the winning historic bid and now on the delivery phase. After working on the project in various capacities, including as external counsel and as a secondee, he is now part of the in-house legal team at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible for delivering the tournament infrastructure and legacy. Wasti is tasked with focusing on sports law, working closely with Qatar’s newly formed operations joint venture with FIFA, keeping a keen eye on tournament-related issues. An extremely well-respected lawyer, Aarij came in for particularly high praise from nominating sources: ‘He is executing a very challenging role very effectively. The legal team at Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy has to balance the political, economic and legal issues surrounding the preparations for the World Cup, balancing the interests of a myriad of domestic and international stakeholders. [Wasti] is able to do this, utilising his extensive international experience and network to represent the SC and the State of Qatar in a very compelling manner. He is a strong technical lawyer, but more than that is gifted at identifying and solving potential commercial and political issues before they arise’. Clearly, Wasti and his team at SC are central to ensuring this ambitious and extremely complex undertaking will be an event to remember in 2022.