JUSTINE EYES DOHA RETURN - Qatar Olympic Committee
JUSTINE EYES DOHA RETURN - Qatar Olympic Committee
JUSTINE EYES DOHA RETURN - Qatar Olympic Committee
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<strong>Qatar</strong>Sport<br />
Q1.2008<br />
the official magazine of the qatar olympic committee<br />
GOOD TO<br />
BE BACK!<br />
Justine eyes Doha return
Maroon<br />
qatarsport.Q1.08.contents<br />
Grey<br />
Silver Metalic<br />
04 QOC comment Message from the Secretary General<br />
05 News Course record wins <strong>Qatar</strong> Masters<br />
12 Sports Medicine Aspetar’s world-class sports hospital<br />
14 Stars in <strong>Qatar</strong> Justine Henin returns<br />
18 Women in Sport Inspiring the next generation<br />
20 Sport for All Health and fitness for the people<br />
22 School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day Celebrating children’s sport<br />
24 Facilities Sports clubs with a mission<br />
27 Partners in Sport <strong>Qatar</strong> Telecom’s sponsorship network<br />
30 Flying the Flag Mohamed Suleiman’s <strong>Olympic</strong> first<br />
33 Sports Calendar Highlights of the sporting year ahead<br />
34 The Big Interview IAAF President Lamine Diack<br />
No article in this publication or part thereof may be reproduced without proper permission and full acknowledgement of the source:<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Sport, a publication of the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>.<br />
© <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>, 2008.<br />
www.olympic.qa<br />
qoc@olympic.qa<br />
Designed and produced for the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> by SportBusiness Group, London.<br />
Maroon<br />
Grey<br />
Silver Met<br />
Cover photo: Getty Images Sport<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 3
Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Secretary General, <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong><br />
Welcome...<br />
...to the first edition of <strong>Qatar</strong> Sport, the official<br />
magazine of the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>.<br />
The role of sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> has changed enormously<br />
over the years. Today it is at the very heart of the life<br />
of the country and its people. Along with education<br />
and continued investment in the energy industries, the<br />
development of sports infrastructure and opportunities is<br />
one of the key policy strands introduced by The Emir HH<br />
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, some 10 years ago.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> plays the central role in<br />
fulfilling those policies. It has the role of delivering sport<br />
and the opportunity to take part in sport to the people of<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> and the world. Its responsibilities range from the<br />
provision of community and grass-roots sports programmes<br />
to constructing and maintaining the facilities which host<br />
sports events at the community and international levels.<br />
Our slogan is Sport for Life and we are driven by our<br />
“Sport is not just for elite athletes, it is not<br />
just for the young and it is not just for those<br />
with money. We believe in Sport for Life.”<br />
belief that sport has the potential to enhance every aspect of<br />
life, both domestically and internationally. Through sport<br />
we aim to improve the lives of the citizens and residents<br />
of <strong>Qatar</strong> by providing the knowledge, encouragement and<br />
facilities they need to adopt sport as part of a healthier<br />
lifestyle.<br />
Sport is also a way of reaching out to the world and<br />
we are determined that <strong>Qatar</strong> should become universally<br />
recognised as the sports hub of the Middle East and a<br />
major destination for world-class events in all sports. We<br />
believe that sport promotes friendship, unity and peace<br />
and we are determined that <strong>Qatar</strong> should play its role in<br />
this process.<br />
One good example was provided by the 15th Asian<br />
Games which we were proud to host in Doha in 2006.<br />
People often ask me what was the best thing about<br />
organising the Games and although there were many, I<br />
always come back to the same answer.<br />
Organising the Games was about learning to work and<br />
deliver as a team and proving ourselves to each other and<br />
the rest of the world. The Games were a test not only<br />
for the Organising <strong>Committee</strong> itself, but for the whole<br />
country. It seemed that everybody had a role to play and<br />
a responsibility for ensuring that everything was ready –<br />
the venues, the accommodation, transportation, roads,<br />
communication and IT systems. It was a major challenge<br />
and we succeeded. Hosting the Asian Games brought the<br />
country together and helped us move forward. I think the<br />
experience probably advanced the country by 20 years in<br />
a very short space of time. It gave us the impetus to build,<br />
to create and to organise and the lessons we learned, as<br />
individuals and as a nation, will remain with us always.<br />
Now, in the first quarter of 2008, we have fond<br />
memories of the 15th Asian Games but our focus is firmly<br />
on the future.<br />
From now until October 2009 we will stage 52<br />
international events, more or less one every two weeks.<br />
For the first time <strong>Qatar</strong> will host the highly prestigious<br />
Sony Ericsson Championship – the WTA Tour’s end<br />
of season championship – and the IAAF World Indoor<br />
Championships. These are both Grade A international<br />
events which will be seen by huge audiences around the<br />
world. In addition we will host world class motorcycling,<br />
equestrian events, table tennis, fencing, gymnastics and<br />
much more besides.<br />
Sport has brought much to <strong>Qatar</strong>. It has helped put the<br />
country on the map, providing a very positive introduction<br />
to Asia and the world in general. Internally, sport continues<br />
to draw people together and to create opportunities for<br />
the development of culture, health and education.<br />
Through sport we can tell the world of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s values<br />
because we share the values of sport. It can achieve things<br />
that politics can never do and that is why the <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
Games are the only place you will find 202 countries, side<br />
by side without dispute.<br />
In this issue of <strong>Qatar</strong> Sport we will introduce you to the<br />
role that sport plays in our country and of our sporting<br />
hopes, expectations and ambitions. In its pages you<br />
will read about world-class stars who will be competing<br />
here in the months ahead, of the venues and facilities<br />
which are the foundations of the world of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> and, importantly, about the QOC’s<br />
programmes to involve the entire community in sport.<br />
Sport is the best tool available to create positive change<br />
in society and we are firmly committed to promoting<br />
participation and the sharing of sports values. Sport is not<br />
just for elite athletes, it is not just for the young and it is<br />
not just for those with money.<br />
We believe in Sport for Life.<br />
Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani<br />
Secretary General. <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong><br />
4 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
Q1.08.news<br />
SCOTT MAKES<br />
IT A QATAR<br />
MASTERS<br />
DOUBLE<br />
THE winner in 2002, ADAM sCOtt<br />
RECLAIMED THE 2008 MASTERS<br />
trophy at the doha golf club.<br />
Australian Adam Scott won his second<br />
Commercialbank Doha Masters at the Doha Golf Club<br />
in late January, shooting a magnificent final round of 61<br />
to beat Henrik Stenson into second place.<br />
Scott became the youngest winner of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Masters back in 2002 when he lifted the trophy at the<br />
age of 21 years and 244 days.<br />
This year he was back in style, overcoming a three shot<br />
deficit on the overnight leader with the help of successive<br />
birdies on the first five holes of his final round.<br />
Star attractions<br />
His second victory in <strong>Qatar</strong> was his sixth European Tour<br />
win and makes him the first player to record a double in<br />
the tournament.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> Masters has been one of the highlights<br />
of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s sporting calendar ever since Briton Andrew<br />
Coltart won the first tournament back in 1998. Since<br />
then it has grown in stature and prize money and many<br />
of the world’s leading players have graced the Doha Golf<br />
Club. South Africans Retief Goosen and Ernie Els have<br />
been among the winners.<br />
The tournament, presented by Dolphin Energy, doesn’t<br />
simply attract leading players. This year it was enjoyed by<br />
a galaxy of sports and show business stars from around<br />
the world.<br />
While some came just to watch the action, others took<br />
part in the Pro-Am event before the Masters which<br />
featured record-breaking oarsman Sir Steven Redgrave,<br />
cricketer Sir Ian Botham, footballer Ian Wright, tennis<br />
player Boris Becker and 400m legend Michael Johnson.<br />
Adam Scott, however, was the centre of the golfing<br />
world’s attention on the final day of the main event,<br />
when he birdied the first five holes to set up his victory.<br />
He opted for safety at the last where a par-five left him<br />
20 under, equalling the record 72-hole score carded by<br />
the Scotsman Paul Lawrie in 1999.<br />
“I am pleased to win again in <strong>Qatar</strong>,” said Scott.<br />
“Stringing off five birdies in a row and then to keep it<br />
going was good. It put pressure on the others. Henrik<br />
(Stenson) did everything right. He deserved to win the<br />
tournament. It’s hard for the guys who were leading.”<br />
Scott started the tournament as world number eight<br />
but his <strong>Qatar</strong> Masters win saw him leap three places in<br />
the rankings.<br />
After Doha, his aim is to make an even bigger<br />
impression at world level. “I’ve matured well as a golfer<br />
since winning here in 2002 but not won any Majors.<br />
This is a big year for me,” he said.<br />
Adam Scott receives the<br />
trophy from Hassan<br />
Nasser Al Naimi,<br />
president of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Golf Association, and<br />
Andrew Stevens, Group<br />
CEO Commercialbank<br />
of <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 5
News<br />
in Brief<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> National<br />
Handball team’s<br />
preparations for the 13th<br />
Asian Championship, which will take<br />
place in Asfahan city, Iran from 17<br />
to 25 February, were boosted by the<br />
attendance of HE Sheikh Saoud bin<br />
Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Secretary<br />
General of the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
<strong>Committee</strong> at a pre-tournament<br />
training session in Doha.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> police team<br />
grabbed the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Volleyball Association Cup<br />
title after defeating the Al Arabi team<br />
3-2 in the final, which took place in<br />
the Al Arabi Sports Club indoor hall.<br />
The closely fought match generated<br />
excitement right up to the final<br />
whistle.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> football<br />
team finished with the<br />
bronze medal at the<br />
inaugural GCC Championship for<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> teams, which was held in<br />
Riyadh Saudi Arabia. The team’s 1-1<br />
draw against Bahrain in the final<br />
match raised <strong>Qatar</strong>’s points tally to<br />
five and secured third place in the<br />
tournament.<br />
32 drivers from <strong>Qatar</strong>,<br />
UAE, Jordan, Kuwait,<br />
Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi<br />
Arabia participated in the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
International Rally 2008, January 24<br />
to 26. The race, organised by <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Motor and Motorcycles Federation<br />
under the leadership of Nasser bin<br />
Khalifa Al Attiyah, marked the start<br />
of the 2008 campaign for <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
leading rally driver, Nasser Saleh Al<br />
Attiyah, who won the event last year.<br />
The first <strong>Qatar</strong> National<br />
Hockey League will consist<br />
of two rounds, with each<br />
team playing the other twice - with<br />
a total of 12 league matches in two<br />
rounds and a play-off for first and<br />
second place and the third and<br />
fourth place. The league final will be<br />
held on March 21.<br />
Anna Kournikova was<br />
among the sports and<br />
film stars at the 2008<br />
Commercialbank <strong>Qatar</strong> Masters golf<br />
tournament. She joined celebrities<br />
including Natalie Imbruglia, actor<br />
Omar Sharif and US sprinter Carl<br />
Lewis at the event.<br />
GSF STEERS YOUth<br />
AWAY from CRIME<br />
The ability of sport to change people's lives for the better is behind<br />
the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>'s co-venture with the United Nations.<br />
A unique joint initiative between the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> and the United Nations<br />
is harnessing the power of sport to provide<br />
youngsters with a positive life-focus and a<br />
compelling alternative to a life of drug abuse and<br />
crime.<br />
The Global Sport Fund, set up with a multimillion<br />
dollar donation from the QOC, is<br />
providing activities and grants worldwide to<br />
show young people an alternative way of life.<br />
This year the programme will build on the<br />
success it enjoyed in 2007 when it held its first<br />
youth training camp in Jounieh, Lebanon.<br />
The four-day camp enabled young people<br />
aged between 12 and 15 from seven Middle<br />
East countries, to learn both football and life<br />
skills, thanks to a packed programme which<br />
placed equal emphasis on personal and sporting<br />
development.<br />
The programme which delivered the camp<br />
is run by the United Nations Office On Drugs<br />
and Crime (UNODC) from its office within<br />
the QOC’s Doha headquarters. Their presence<br />
in the building is indicative of the close<br />
relationship between UNODC and the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>, which set up the multimillion<br />
dollar Global Sport Fund in 2006.<br />
In December, QOC Secretary General Sheikh<br />
Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani visited New<br />
York to receive a Global Sport Fund Award<br />
from the United Nations on behalf of HH<br />
Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir<br />
Apparent.<br />
Rami Bathish, the UNODC Project<br />
Coordinator responsible for running this unique<br />
initiative, reflects Sheikh Saoud’s enthusiasm for<br />
a project capable of making a real difference to<br />
the lives of young people worldwide.<br />
“The initiative is based on the concept that<br />
gainfully occupied young people are less likely to<br />
get involved with substance abuse and criminal<br />
activity. Sport is a powerful tool because it<br />
engages and occupies young people in a way that<br />
presents them with a challenge, while allowing<br />
them to develop physical and social skills,” he<br />
said.<br />
“We are delighted to be working with the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> on this project,<br />
which will grow significantly this year.”<br />
The GSF Football Training Camp in<br />
Lebanon involved 96 people from <strong>Qatar</strong> itself,<br />
Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and<br />
Palestine. Each national group included players<br />
and coaches who competed in seven mixed<br />
nationality and mixed gender teams.<br />
The rigorous training programme saw the<br />
players taking part in fitness, skills and tactics<br />
sessions for three-and-a half-hours each morning<br />
but, as Rami Bathish points out, the camp was<br />
not just about football.<br />
“Each day we held 45-minute Fair Play<br />
sessions which covered a wide range of topics<br />
from behaviour on the field to working as a<br />
group. These issues deliver important life skills<br />
for young people,” Rami Bathish said.<br />
“Equally important was the social and cultural<br />
programme, which gave these youngsters from<br />
very different national and socio-economic<br />
backgrounds an opportunity to learn from each<br />
other. Their interaction resulted in a positive<br />
6 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
Q1.08.news<br />
multi-cultural experience, both on and off<br />
the field, that transcended political and social<br />
boundaries and facilitated the promotion<br />
of universal values and shared ideals among<br />
them. The camp was a challenging, but<br />
ultimately incredibly rewarding experience.<br />
It was wonderful to see how the youngsters<br />
reacted to the opportunity and related to<br />
each other.”<br />
This year the Global Sport Fund will run<br />
more sport camps around the world and will<br />
continue its programme of grants to fund<br />
sports-related project in many countries. This<br />
is a unique co-operation between a UN body<br />
and a National <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> and I<br />
feel privileged to be part of it,” said Rami<br />
Bathish.<br />
“Working from offices within the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> means we are at the<br />
very heart of the organisation. It reflects<br />
the importance that the QOC places on<br />
the project and being here has really served<br />
to open our eyes to the role of sport in the<br />
pursuit of the UNODC’s objective to make<br />
the world safer by providing youngsters with<br />
an alternative path to a life of drugs and<br />
crime.”<br />
Table tennis champions at Aspire<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> Open Table Tennis Championships at the Aspire<br />
Indoor Hall, March 18- 22, will see the world’s top table tennis talent<br />
come to town.<br />
These are the best of the best – <strong>Olympic</strong> and world champions –<br />
vying for valuable points in the ITTF Pro Tour standings.<br />
Last year’s Liebherr <strong>Qatar</strong> Open saw China’s Ma Lin and Li<br />
Xiaoxia win the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively. But that<br />
doesn’t even begin to tell the story.<br />
Ma Lin beat his arch rival and compatriot Wang Liqin, the world<br />
number one, who has beaten him on the last two occasions that<br />
the players met in Doha - defeats that were all the more painful for<br />
coming in the final of the tournament.<br />
In 2007, however, that sequence came to an end and Ma Lin had<br />
his revenge in a match that saw table tennis of the highest order from<br />
players who were then recognised as the top two players on the ITTF<br />
men’s world ranking list.<br />
In 2008, China’s Wang Hao has overtaken these two rivals at the<br />
top of the rankings, making this year’s men’s singles tournament even<br />
more fascinating.<br />
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles competition, China’s rising star,<br />
nineteen-year-old Li Xiaoxia, beat compatriot Wang Nan in the final<br />
- an achievement that was all the more remarkable for her stunning<br />
victory at the quarter final stage over China’s Zhang Yining, the<br />
reigning <strong>Olympic</strong> and World champion.<br />
With China boasting the top five women in this year’s ITTF<br />
Pro Tour world rankings, expect there to be even more spice to the<br />
contests in Doha this year, as the Chinese women aim to secure their<br />
places in Team China for the Beijing <strong>Olympic</strong> Games.<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> year is also a reminder that, over the next four-year cycle<br />
of the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games, young <strong>Qatar</strong>i talent could come to the fore.<br />
Last year, ASPIRE table tennis students achieved international<br />
success both in individual and team events at Under-15 and<br />
Under-17 levels. Having court-side seats at this year’s <strong>Qatar</strong> Open<br />
Championships will enhance their understanding of what it takes to<br />
become truly world class.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 7
News<br />
in Brief<br />
HE Sheikh Saoud Bin<br />
Abdulrahman Al-Thani,<br />
QOC Secretary General,<br />
praised the performance of <strong>Qatar</strong>i<br />
riders in the HH Heir Apparent Show<br />
Jumping Championship at the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Equestrian Federation circuit in<br />
January. HE Sheikh Saoud said that<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> now has a wide base of riders<br />
and can build on the gold medal<br />
achievements of the Asian Games.<br />
17 teams lined up for the<br />
sixth Tour of <strong>Qatar</strong> (27<br />
January - February 1) with<br />
last year’s winner Tim Boonen, the<br />
Belgian former World Champion in<br />
the saddle again for the international<br />
cycling season’s opening race. This<br />
year’s Tour was made up of six<br />
stages and covered a total distance<br />
of 710 kilometres.<br />
Mohamed Salh Idriss,<br />
the 19-year-old ASPIRE<br />
student, who came an<br />
astonishing second in December’s<br />
Lisbon Half Marathon, hopes to<br />
compete in two more events this<br />
year before contemplating a possible<br />
jump to the full marathon. Idriss<br />
beat all but one of the 1,507-man<br />
field of athletes, from 34 different<br />
nations in Portugal. The result was<br />
a new personal best by a margin of<br />
almost seven minutes.<br />
The opening round of<br />
the World Superbike<br />
Championship will take<br />
place at the Losail International<br />
Circuit in February. The track tested<br />
the riders before the New Year<br />
when the Pirelli Test programme<br />
came to Losail. In these practice<br />
sessions, the Australian Troy Bayliss<br />
posted the fastest time ahead of<br />
his great rival Troy Corser. The<br />
second quickest rider was Corser’s<br />
team-mate and 2007 championship<br />
runner-up, Noriyuki Haga.<br />
Showcasing<br />
‘Sport for Life’<br />
An exhibition to launch the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>’s vision<br />
for sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> under its new<br />
slogan - ‘Sport For Life’ - was one<br />
of the highlights of the ‘Life – be<br />
part of it’ show at the International<br />
Exhibition Centre in Doha in<br />
November<br />
QOC’s participation at the<br />
exhibition was supervised by<br />
Mrs. Khowla Khalid, who worked<br />
alongside a team of QOC staff<br />
from the departments of public<br />
relations, human resources,<br />
sports facilities and sports affairs<br />
to deliver the ‘Sport For Life’<br />
message to the public.<br />
“We had an incredibly positive<br />
response from visitors to the<br />
exhibition,” said Mrs Khalid. “It’s<br />
so important for the community<br />
and for sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> that QOC<br />
delivers our message of Sport for<br />
Life to every social group. QOC<br />
is committed to spreading this<br />
message and the event provided<br />
the perfect platform to showcase<br />
our vision.”<br />
QOC’s participation at the<br />
exhibition came with the full<br />
support of HE Sheikh Saoud<br />
Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, QOC<br />
Secretary General.<br />
Three <strong>Qatar</strong>i basketball<br />
teams will take part in<br />
GCC and Arab basketball<br />
championships in April. Defending<br />
champions Al-Rayyan and runnerup<br />
Al Arabi will play in the GCC<br />
basketball clubs tournament which<br />
will take place in Doha, April 25 - 30.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> men’s national team will<br />
take part in the Arab Championship<br />
in Jordan from April 23 to May 5,<br />
2008.<br />
8 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
Q1.08.news<br />
Equestrian events<br />
raise Doha’s profile<br />
Show Jumping’s new gala series, the Global Champions<br />
Tour, with a total of Euro 5.5 million in prize money at stake, is<br />
coming to <strong>Qatar</strong>, April 10-12, 2008<br />
The Doha Grand Prix will mark the first stage of this year’s<br />
Global Champions Tour, and is the only event in the series to be<br />
hosted in the Gulf region.<br />
The series was created by the Eurosport Group and features some<br />
of the world’s most prestigious outdoor show jumping events rolled<br />
into a single championship.<br />
As well as Doha, the Tour will travel to Germany, France,<br />
Monaco, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy and Brazil, and feature<br />
some of the world’s leading riders, including Rodrigo Pessoa, Ludo<br />
Philippaerts, Ludger Beerbaum and Beezie Madden.<br />
The riders will be competing for a minimum prize money of<br />
Euro 400,000 at each Grand Prix.<br />
Hosting the Doha Grand Prix represents a major success for the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>, which has made the event an integral<br />
part of its seven-year strategic plan.<br />
The 2008 Global Champions Tour will showcase Doha to the<br />
world as live transmission is sent throughout Eurosport’s network<br />
reaching over 110 millions homes across 59 countries.<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>, of course, has a long history of hosting equestrian events<br />
on a national, regional and international scale.<br />
Doha plays host to a number of international FEI sanctioned<br />
events throughout the year and in 2008 will host the 16th <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
International Dressage Championship, February 25 - 27, and the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> 8th International Equestrian Championship Jumping Event,<br />
March 6 - 9.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> Show Jumping national team showed their talent<br />
earlier this year when they participated in the Dubai, Abu Dhabi<br />
and Al Sharjah Championships, including the Arab League Show<br />
Jumping Championship qualifiers for the World Cup finals.<br />
The Doha 2006 three-day event gold medalists Awad Al<br />
Qahtani, Rashid Faraj Al Adba, Ali Al Merri and Abdullah Al Ujail<br />
were among the <strong>Qatar</strong>i delegation to the United Arab Emirates.<br />
Ludo Philippaerts is a star name on the Global Champions Tour.<br />
Winning the anti-doping race<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> has become a shining light in the promotion of antidoping<br />
measures in the Gulf region.<br />
In December, the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> signed a landmark<br />
agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to<br />
establish a regional anti-doping laboratory in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
Sheikh Saoud said that the agreement with WADA was the first<br />
step in making <strong>Qatar</strong> a permanent centre of anti-doping services<br />
for the Gulf Cooperation Countries.<br />
But the move has also added impetus to a concerted campaign<br />
by the <strong>Qatar</strong> National Anti-Doping Commission to educate and<br />
prevent cheating in <strong>Qatar</strong>i sport.<br />
The QOC established the Commission on March 7, 2005 to<br />
carry out the anti-doping function on behalf of the governing body<br />
and act as the independent anti-doping organisation for <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
This year, the Commission is planning to celebrate a National<br />
Anti-Doping Day for the first time on March 7 as the focal point of<br />
numerous initiatives across professional and amateur sport in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
The Commission has already conducted education programmes<br />
among <strong>Qatar</strong>’s sporting community - a move that included an<br />
anti-doping workshop for the Professional League <strong>Committee</strong> in<br />
January - and many other educational activities are planned for the<br />
future. The workshops, seminars, meetings and lectures are directed<br />
at athletes, coaches, physiotherapists, administrators and all other<br />
supporting personnel. They aim to highlight five main issues:<br />
anti-doping rule violation; the international standard of testing; the<br />
therapeutic use exemption; the rights and the responsibilities of the<br />
athletes; and the standard of the result management.<br />
The Commission has begun anti-doping testing in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
football, basketball, handball and volleyball leagues – and now the<br />
message is getting across to every sector of society.<br />
In January, the Commission launched an art competition for<br />
children aged eight to 12 in the ‘City Centre’ mall to pass on the<br />
message to the public about the hazards of doping and how much<br />
doping is against the spirit of sport.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 9
News<br />
in Brief<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s paddlers trained<br />
at Aspire in preparation<br />
for the West Asian<br />
qualification matches taking place<br />
in Jordan in which the winners will<br />
qualify for the 2008 Beijing <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
Games and the World Championship<br />
to be held in China in February 2008.<br />
The sessions were organised by the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Table Tennis federation, which<br />
has also planned outdoor training<br />
camps in Germany and Spain later<br />
this year.<br />
The national bowling<br />
team put in a series of top<br />
class performances at the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> International Open Bowling<br />
Tournament hosted by the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Bowling Center in January. <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
head coach, Franc Buffa of Canada<br />
was pleased with the performances<br />
as <strong>Qatar</strong> gears up for the Asian<br />
Championship and World Cup which<br />
are scheduled for later in the year.<br />
Scotland’s Andy Murray<br />
won the $1.05m <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
ExxonMobil Open 2008. The<br />
third seed beat the Swiss Stanislas<br />
Wawrinka in the final at the Khalifa<br />
Tennis and Squash Complex. During<br />
the Championship, Anil Khanna,<br />
president of the Asian Tennis<br />
Federation said that if the sport is to<br />
become truly global the possibility of<br />
a fifth Grand Slam in Asia should not<br />
be ruled out.<br />
The New Year’s sporting<br />
calendar in <strong>Qatar</strong> teed<br />
off on January 4 when<br />
128 golfers form 26 countries<br />
took part in the 22nd <strong>Qatar</strong> Open<br />
golf tournament at the Doha Golf<br />
Club. The tournament is one of<br />
the most prestigious events on the<br />
GCC amateur circuit and attracts<br />
players in large numbers every<br />
year. The event was sponsored by<br />
Commercialbank and Pearl <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
Some of the world’s best<br />
fencers featured at the<br />
fifth edition of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
International Fencing Tournament<br />
Grand Prix 2008, which took place in<br />
January at the ASPIRE Academy for<br />
Sporting Excellence. Participating<br />
countries in this year’s tournament,<br />
including a 12 member squad from<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>, increased to 41 as compared<br />
to last year’s 31.<br />
The bold and<br />
the beautiful<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s sports facilities have won accolades in the world’s most<br />
prestigious sports architecture awards.<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s outstanding outdoor and indoor<br />
sports facilities won two of the most prestigious<br />
prizes in sports architecture when the ASPIRE<br />
Dome and Khalifa Stadium won silver<br />
and bronze awards respectively at the 20th<br />
International Association for Sports and Leisure<br />
Facilities (IAKS) Congress.<br />
The Doha venues finished in the medal<br />
places in the 2007 contest, involving 88 sports<br />
and leisure facilities from over 27 countries.<br />
Having successfully hosted the 15th Asian<br />
Games in 2006, <strong>Qatar</strong> finished ahead of all<br />
other competition from the Gulf Co-operation<br />
Council region.<br />
“The facilities have become a fantastic symbol<br />
of the continuing growth of the region,” said<br />
Dr. Thomas Flock, ASPIRE Director General.<br />
“These iconic buildings are also part of the<br />
attraction for the hundreds of visitors to the<br />
Aspire Academy in recent months.”<br />
Designed by French architect, Roger<br />
Taillibert, the multi-purpose ASPIRE Indoor<br />
Hall is home to the ASPIRE Academy for Sports<br />
Excellence and boasts the world’s largest indoor<br />
sports dome. Covering 290,000 square metres,<br />
it stands 46 metres high and seats 15,000<br />
spectators.<br />
Within the ASPIRE complex’s facilities there<br />
are one indoor and seven outdoor football<br />
pitches, an athletics track, an <strong>Olympic</strong>-sized<br />
swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas,<br />
gymnastics arena, specially designed weight<br />
rooms, lecture halls and dormitories to<br />
accommodate up to 1,000 students.<br />
As part of the 250-hectare ASPIRE Zone<br />
sports precinct built for the 15th Asian Games,<br />
the venue hosted seven sports during the Doha<br />
2006 event - badminton, gymnastics, wushu,<br />
wrestling, kabaddi, boxing and cycling.<br />
Also designed by Roger Taillibert,<br />
Doha’s 50,000-capacity Khalifa Stadium is<br />
acknowledged as the best of the region’s sports<br />
stadiums. The host venue for the track and<br />
field contests and the Opening and Closing<br />
Ceremonies for Doha 2006, the stadium<br />
is uncovered around three-quarters of its<br />
circumference, but can comfortably host any<br />
outdoor event. During the Games the facility<br />
unveiled the largest custom-made LED screen<br />
ever used for a live event. At 165 metres-wide<br />
and 39 metres at its highest point, the screen<br />
provided a spectacular backdrop for the action.<br />
HE Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-<br />
Thani, the Secretary General of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>, received the medals<br />
from IOC Deputy President, Thomas Bach, at<br />
the ceremony in Cologne, Germany, last year.<br />
“This achievement is a matter of great pride<br />
for all Gulf sports fans, as <strong>Qatar</strong> was the only<br />
Arab State that entered the IOC competition,”<br />
said Sheikh Saoud. “The high standard of<br />
architecture is one component among many<br />
that have contributed to Aspire’s international<br />
reputation. Gaining the silver medal further<br />
demonstrates the Academy’s emergence as a<br />
major landmark in the sporting world.”<br />
The prestigious awards, sponsored by IAKS<br />
and the International <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>,<br />
have been awarded every two years since 1987<br />
and are known as the only architecture award of<br />
international importance for existing sports and<br />
leisure facilities.<br />
10 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
Q1.08.news<br />
NIGHTRIDERS TO MAKE HISTORY<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> will host the first ever night-time MotoGP race when the<br />
Commercial Bank Grand Prix of <strong>Qatar</strong> comes to the Losail Circuit,<br />
March 7-9. The glamour and excitement of the fifth <strong>Qatar</strong> Moto<br />
GP will feature the world’s greatest riders in a high-speed night ride<br />
unprecedented in the championship’s 48-year history.<br />
The staging of the race will involve what is believed to be the<br />
biggest lighting project in the world for any sporting event – almost<br />
four thousand lights will be used to ensure visibility and remove<br />
shadowing from the track.<br />
“This is obviously a major project for <strong>Qatar</strong> and we are proud to<br />
be able to say we will hold the first Grand Prix event under lights”,<br />
said QMMF president, Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah. “While this is<br />
great for the country’s image as a whole, it also means our track can<br />
be used in the hot summer months and we hope this opens up more<br />
opportunities for other motorsports events in the future.”<br />
The potential for a night race at the championship was first<br />
investigated at last year’s <strong>Qatar</strong> Grand Prix, when the three<br />
permanent riders on the MotoGP Security Commission (Valentino<br />
Rossi, Kenny Roberts Junior and Loris Capirossi) tried out the Losail<br />
circuit on street bikes during full darkness to evaluate its feasibility.<br />
The third longest track in the GP series boasts a 1km long straight<br />
in which the racers can hit 330 kph, but the organisers are assured<br />
that the riders will be able to see as well as during the daytime - and<br />
may even come to prefer it. The night time race will allow for better<br />
synchronisation with European television schedules and further<br />
enhance the prestige of the <strong>Qatar</strong> MotoGP.<br />
QATAR KICKS<br />
OFF WORLD CUP<br />
CAMPAIGN<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s national football team was set for a testing start to its<br />
qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with an away<br />
game against Asian Football Confederation new-boys Australia, in<br />
Melbourne in early February.<br />
The qualifying group, which also includes surprise AFC champions<br />
Iraq and China, has already been dubbed the ‘Group Of Death’ by<br />
the Australian media whose national team switched to the Asian<br />
Confederation from the Oceania group only last year.<br />
Australia, ranked 42 in the world, will inevitably start as favourites<br />
but <strong>Qatar</strong>’s Asian Games gold medal wining team will certainly not<br />
be overawed.<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s first home game is against Iraq in Doha on March 26 and<br />
a tremendous crowd is expected to see the match-up with the team<br />
which won the hearts of the world with their unexpected Asian<br />
Championship triumph.<br />
The <strong>Qatar</strong> national team is currently ranked 81 in the world by<br />
FIFA, the governing body.<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Football Association President, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa<br />
Al Thani was impressed by the team’s performance in a recent draw<br />
against Iran but acknowledged that it will be a tough battle against<br />
Australia.<br />
“We hope to play well against Australia. We will miss the injured<br />
players but the coach will have to make the best use of the players at<br />
his disposal,” he said.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 11
Above: Doha’s striking<br />
Aspetar Sports Hospital.<br />
ASPETAR<br />
Doha’s 5-star Aspetar sports hospital is more than just a medical facility.<br />
SETS NEW STANDARDS<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> is set to become one of the world’s leading centres<br />
of excellence in sports medicine, following the opening<br />
of Aspetar, a 50 bed sports hospital that will set new<br />
standards in the diagnosis and treatment of sports injuries<br />
and research which will help protect athletes from harm<br />
and improve their performance.<br />
Chief Medical Officer at Aspetar is Peter Fowler, a<br />
hugely experienced and globally respected sports physician<br />
and founder of the renowned Fowler Kennedy clinic in<br />
London, Ontario.<br />
He is a man who has seen and done it all in sports<br />
medicine over the years but even he is excited and bubbling<br />
with enthusiasm about Aspetar and its potential.<br />
Aspetar, in Doha’s ASPIRE Zone, was inspired by and<br />
operates under the patronage of HH Sheikh Jassim Bin<br />
Hamad Al-Thani, the Special Envoy to the Emir HH<br />
Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.<br />
The hospital meets international standards in the<br />
treatment of orthopaedic problems and athletic injuries,<br />
and uses the latest technology to guide patients through<br />
rehabilitation for complete recovery. But the work of<br />
Aspetar doesn’t stop there. The experience and expertise in<br />
fitness, nutrition and training techniques will help athletes<br />
to maximise their performance both in training and in<br />
competition and push the boundaries of sports medicine<br />
in ways which will be invaluable to current and future<br />
generations of athletes, whether they operate at a social<br />
or elite level.<br />
Aspetar has been described as establishing a new<br />
paradigm for sports medicine. Each of its departments is<br />
superbly equipped.<br />
Orthopaedic Surgical Department<br />
The Orthopaedic Surgical Department includes four<br />
digital operating theatres, linked to an education centre,<br />
50 in-patient beds in two wards, a six-bed ICU (Intensive<br />
Care Unit), 24 rooms and 48 beds for altitude simulation<br />
(low oxygen and normabaric), day clinics and an outpatient<br />
department.<br />
The department provides advanced digital radiographic<br />
imaging, extensive rehabilitation facilities, plus exercise<br />
and sport science services.<br />
12 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
o o o o o o o o o<br />
sports<br />
medicine<br />
Clinical<br />
Aspetar’s in-patient service focuses on musculoskeletal<br />
injuries, both acute and chronic, and offers subspecialties<br />
including rehabilitation, dentistry, and podiatry.<br />
Nursing<br />
The international nursing team delivers the highest<br />
standards of patient care and includes specialised expertise<br />
in orthopaedic nursing.<br />
Rehabilitation<br />
As proper rehabilitation is fundamental to recovery Aspetar’s<br />
state-of-the-art rehabilitation department has exclusive<br />
male and female areas, and provides expert Physiotherapy,<br />
Hydrotherapy, Thalasso Therapy, Relaxation, Strength and<br />
Conditioning as well as Functional Rehabilitation.<br />
“In all my years I had never heard of a project like this and<br />
I am simply delighted to be involved” said Dr Fowler who<br />
has overseen the recruitment of the some of the world’s<br />
best sports specialists to Aspetar.<br />
“Aspetar brings together staff from nearly 50 countries,<br />
each of whom brings their personal experience. It is a<br />
truly multi-cultural project and every one of the 400 staff<br />
members brings something unique to the team,” he said.<br />
“Each of them is a specialist in sports and they will<br />
share their knowledge and work together to make Aspetar<br />
a leading centre not only in the Middle East region but<br />
worldwide.”<br />
The creation of Aspetar is evidence of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
determination to build the finest possible sports<br />
infrastructure and to deliver the best support for the<br />
local population as well as international athletes.<br />
Ambition<br />
For Dr Fowler, an orthopaedic surgeon who opened<br />
the Fowler Kennedy Clinic in Canada to meet a<br />
growing need for specialist sports medical facilities,<br />
working at Aspetar is the realisation of a long-held<br />
ambition.<br />
“As medical professionals Aspetar provides us with so<br />
many opportunities. It is a superbly equipped facility<br />
which has been designed to enable us to push everything<br />
we do to the limit. It will allow all of us to do things which<br />
we couldn’t possibly do in our own countries and that will<br />
benefit the athletes we treat and the development of sports<br />
medicine as a whole.”<br />
His colleague, Senior Surgeon Nebojsa Popovic, an eminent<br />
orthopaedic surgeon and <strong>Olympic</strong> Gold Medallist,<br />
shares Dr Fowler’s enthusiasm.<br />
“The attention to every little detail is simply fantastic.<br />
Staff working at Aspetar have access to the best and latest<br />
equipment and technology to enable them to achieve the<br />
best results for patients.<br />
“It is a quality environment in every way but the standard<br />
ultimately comes down to the quality of the people and<br />
we are delighted to have the best in the world right here.”<br />
And the best will always attract the best. Aspetar has<br />
already treated athletes including players from a number<br />
of leading European football clubs and Dr Fowler expects<br />
that trend to continue.<br />
“As sports developed in <strong>Qatar</strong> having a first class sports<br />
medicine facility here in Doha became more and more of<br />
a priority,” said Dr Fowler.<br />
“Aspetar means that <strong>Qatar</strong>i athletes<br />
no longer have to leave the country<br />
to receive treatment elsewhere in the<br />
Gulf region of even further afield<br />
which is a significant step forward.<br />
Elsewhere in the world, leading athletes<br />
have become accustomed to<br />
having to travel to receive the appropriate<br />
treatment, whether that is to<br />
specialist clinics in the United States,<br />
Germany or elsewhere.<br />
“<strong>Qatar</strong> is so accessible from Europe<br />
and elsewhere in Asia that we certainly<br />
don’t see distance as a barrier<br />
to players taking advantage of the facilities and treatment<br />
available here at Aspetar.”<br />
Those who do will find more than a world-class sports<br />
hospital. As much attention has been paid to ensuring a<br />
comfortable stay as delivering effective treatments. They<br />
are promised a Five Star experience with luxury rooms,<br />
a top quality restaurant, cable television and Internet<br />
access.<br />
“Our aim is to use the work carried out here to create<br />
and share a body of knowledge that will benefit athletes,”<br />
Dr Popovic said.<br />
“We are part of a national sports science programme and<br />
will conduct research into diet and nutrition, physiology,<br />
gait analysis and psychology. We even have altitude<br />
Above: Aspetar Chief<br />
Surgeon Nebojsa<br />
Popovic.<br />
“It is a quality environment in every way but<br />
the standard ultimately comes down to the<br />
quality of the people and we are delighted<br />
to have the best in the world right here”<br />
dormitories which allow up to 48 athletes to prepare for<br />
high altitude conditions without leaving <strong>Qatar</strong>.”<br />
The Aspetar radiology department includes state-ofthe-art<br />
equipment and an in-house laboratory equipped<br />
to conduct around 500 specialist tests.<br />
The Research and Education Centre develops<br />
specialised post-graduate degrees in sports medicine and<br />
sport sciences. The Centre is also well positioned to play<br />
an integral role in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s strategic national health and<br />
medical research programmes. Research focuses on a wide<br />
range of areas, from development of surgical procedures to<br />
genetic factors in sport.<br />
“We have spent three years getting the base of the<br />
project right - making sure that the hospitality is designed<br />
and equipped to deliver the best possible services so that it<br />
can not only function but grow and develop,” Dr Popovic<br />
said.<br />
To help achieve that goal, Aspetar will be guided by<br />
some of the best respected figures in international sports<br />
medicine.<br />
The last word goes to Dr Fowler. “This is likely to be<br />
my last big project and I am delighted to be part of its<br />
legacy,” he said.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 13
14 Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport<br />
“I had experienced probably the most difficult time in my career at<br />
the start of 2007 and it was difficult to find my rhythm again, but<br />
Doha was an important victory for me in getting my confidence<br />
back and believing I could be No.1 in the world again”
o o o o o o o o o<br />
stars<br />
in qatar<br />
World No.1 Justine Henin returns to <strong>Qatar</strong> in February to defend her <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Total Open title. Chances are that the Belgian superstar will also be back<br />
in November for the end-of-season Sony Ericsson Championships which will<br />
offer the biggest winner’s cheque in women’s tennis .<br />
<strong>JUSTINE</strong> GOES FOR<br />
TWO IN A ROW<br />
Women’s tennis World No.1 Justine Henin, who<br />
is due to defend her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Total Open title in Doha in February, credits her 2007<br />
victory at the Khalifa International Tennis Centre, with<br />
giving her the confidence to record her best-ever year as<br />
a professional.<br />
Having first reached the coveted top spot back in 2003,<br />
the 25-year-old Belgian returned to No.1 position in<br />
2006 and her 6-4 / 6-2 victory against Russian Svetlana<br />
Kuznetsova in the Doha final of 2007 clearly demonstrated<br />
that she wasn’t going to relinquish her position without a<br />
fight.<br />
“As a lot of people were aware, I had experienced<br />
probably the most difficult time in my career at the start<br />
of 2007 and it was difficult to find my rhythm again, but<br />
Doha was an important victory for me in getting my<br />
confidence back and believing I could be No.1 in the<br />
world again,” she told <strong>Qatar</strong> Sport.<br />
And it wasn’t only her victory which left her feeling<br />
good about her experience in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
First Class<br />
“I played the tournament before in 2004 and was very<br />
impressed with how the city had grown and developed<br />
in the three years I had been away. I can only speak of my<br />
experience at the tournament in relation to my impression<br />
of the country and I can definitely say it was first class and<br />
the <strong>Qatar</strong>is can be very proud of the good job they are<br />
doing,” she said.<br />
Her 2007 Doha victory complemented wins in Warsaw,<br />
Dubai, the French Open at Roland Garros, Brighton,<br />
Toronto, the US Open, Stuttgart, Zurich and the seasonending<br />
Madrid Tour Championships.<br />
Henin, who is coached by Carlos Rodriguez, was<br />
playing tennis before she was five and has become a role<br />
model for female athletes throughout the world as a result<br />
of her skill, grace and determination on court and her<br />
approach to life off court.<br />
In many respects she’s the perfect example of a modern<br />
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour player; both a phenomenal<br />
athlete and a thoroughly modern woman, actively involved<br />
in a range of interests beyond the sport itself.<br />
“My main memory of last year’s event was getting back on<br />
the plane to Europe with a feeling of satisfaction following<br />
my victory in Doha and that my game was back to the<br />
level I asked of myself”, she said.<br />
But what about the year ahead which, injury permitting,<br />
is likely to see Justine back in Doha from November 3 to<br />
take part in the Sony Ericsson Championships, following<br />
their switch from Madrid?<br />
Staying Fit<br />
“Well, 2008 will be an interesting year,” she reflects. “The<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Total Open will now be a Tier I event, which is one<br />
of the most important tournaments on our Sony Ericsson<br />
WTA Tour. I always enjoy playing outside in <strong>Qatar</strong> in<br />
February and I hope to continue my unbeaten run in<br />
Doha. Also, we will have our season-ending Sony Ericsson<br />
Championships - <strong>Qatar</strong> 2008, so Doha will play a very<br />
important role in the development of women’s tennis.<br />
“Looking at the season as a whole, the challenge for<br />
me will be to top 2007, which was the most successful<br />
year of my career so far. It was also my goal to finish a<br />
season without an injury for the first time and I am very<br />
happy to say I accomplished that. So really, for me in<br />
2008, the key will be to continue my level of tennis and<br />
maintain my fitness. Thanks to my entourage, hopefully it<br />
will continue. Away from tennis, 2007 was probably one<br />
of the most satisfying in my life and I can say I am very<br />
proud of the decisions I made. I look forward to enjoying<br />
more time with my friends and family and appreciating<br />
the good things life has to offer.”<br />
Sony Ericsson Championship<br />
The presence of Justine Henin and many of the world’s<br />
leading women’s tennis players at the <strong>Qatar</strong> Total Open<br />
has helped build the bond between <strong>Qatar</strong> and its Tennis<br />
federation and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.<br />
In July last year a $42 million, three-year agreement<br />
was signed to take the season-ending Sony Ericsson<br />
Championships to Doha, offering record prize money of<br />
$4.45 million, equal to that of the ATP’s season-ending<br />
Championships, the Tennis Masters Cup.<br />
The prestige of the Sony Ericsson Championships has<br />
Left: World No.1<br />
Justine Henin is set on<br />
another brilliant year<br />
in 2008<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 15
o o o o o o o o o<br />
stars<br />
in qatar<br />
Justine Henin<br />
continued from previous page.<br />
“We will have our season-ending Sony<br />
Ericsson Championships - <strong>Qatar</strong> 2008, so<br />
Doha will play a very important role in the<br />
development of women’s tennis”<br />
along with the significantly increased prize money to be<br />
offered, demonstrates the value that the Tour’s Roadmap<br />
circuit structure plans have injected into the sport. I am<br />
particularly thrilled that in the year that both Wimbledon<br />
and Roland Garros made historic decisions to award<br />
equal prize money to the women, our Sony Ericsson<br />
Championships will, for the first time ever in 2008, offer<br />
equal prize money of $4.45 million.”<br />
“We are honoured that Doha, <strong>Qatar</strong> will become the<br />
new home of the most prestigious and widely covered<br />
tournament on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour,” said<br />
Sheikh Mohammad Bin Faleh Al Thani, President of the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Tennis Federation.<br />
Above: Justine Henin<br />
lifts the trophy at the<br />
2007 <strong>Qatar</strong> Total<br />
Open held in Doha.<br />
grown since its inception and has been further boosted<br />
by prize money to be paid to the winner of this year’s<br />
Doha event. The singles winner’s cheque of $1,485,000<br />
represents the largest single guaranteed payout in women’s<br />
tennis today.<br />
Destination Doha<br />
Doha was selected to host the event as a result of a global<br />
bidding process that included expressions of interest from<br />
numerous major international cities and that resulted in<br />
a four-way finalist bid run-off between Doha, Bangalore,<br />
India, Istanbul, Turkey and Monterrey, Mexico.<br />
“The awarding of our Sony Ericsson Championships to<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> represents an exciting continuation of our strategy<br />
to showcase the very best of women’s tennis in different<br />
regions and markets throughout the world,” said Sony<br />
Ericsson WTA Tour CEO, Larry Scott.<br />
“Doha has been a longstanding supporter of women’s tennis,<br />
including having held the first women’s professional tennis<br />
event in the Middle East in 2001 and has demonstrated<br />
the ability to successfully host world class sporting<br />
events such as the 2006 Asian Games. This agreement,<br />
Equal Prize Money<br />
“As the first country in the region to have staged a women’s<br />
professional tennis event, we are particularly pleased to<br />
offer women tennis players equal prize money at the Sony<br />
Ericsson Championships for the first time ever. <strong>Qatar</strong> has<br />
proven its ability to host incredibly successful world class<br />
sporting events and we look forward to welcoming the<br />
world’s best female athletes and making the Sony Ericsson<br />
Championships in 2008-2010 the best season-ending<br />
finale ever.”<br />
Dee Dutta, Global Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson,<br />
is equally enthusiastic about the tournament’s move to<br />
Doha.<br />
“We are pleased with the decision to hold the 2008 Sony<br />
Ericsson Championships in Doha, <strong>Qatar</strong>. We believe it is<br />
a natural move to take it to the Gulf Area, which is an<br />
important market region for Sony Ericsson.”<br />
The 2008 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha,<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> will take place in the Khalifa International Tennis<br />
Complex, a world-class facility that has been the home of<br />
the <strong>Qatar</strong> Total Open event on the Sony Ericsson WTA<br />
Tour since 2001. As part of the deal, the <strong>Qatar</strong> Tennis<br />
Federation plans to expand and enhance the existing<br />
facility. With Justine Henin expected to lead the line of<br />
world-class talent to compete in the Championships, the<br />
only question which remains to be answered is the name<br />
of the eventual winner.<br />
16 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
WOMEN LOOK FORWARD<br />
TO SUCCESS<br />
Women are achieving great things across <strong>Qatar</strong>i society and are<br />
now seizing the opportunity to excel at sport.<br />
“The girls [women’s shooters] have<br />
scripted a new way for the rest to follow.<br />
This shows the amount of talent we have.<br />
If we can get results in such a short span,<br />
imagine what we can do in the long run”<br />
Above: <strong>Qatar</strong>’s bronze<br />
medal-winning<br />
shooters will inspire<br />
the next generation of<br />
women athletes.<br />
In the run up to the 2006 Asian Games, <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
leading female sports star, Nada Zeidan and the President<br />
of the <strong>Qatar</strong> Women’s Sports <strong>Committee</strong>, Dr Aneesa Al-<br />
Hitmi, met at <strong>Qatar</strong> Sports Club and signed up to carry<br />
the Doha 2006 Torch Relay Flame.<br />
While they were there, they encouraged other women<br />
to follow their lead. “It gives me such a sense of pride to<br />
be a part of this relay,” said Dr Al-Hitmi. “It is a once-in-alifetime<br />
experience and I encourage women from all over<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> to join us.”<br />
Commitment to change<br />
The importance of this moment is that it underlines the<br />
leading role <strong>Qatar</strong> is playing in opening up opportunities<br />
for women in the Middle East. More than just the<br />
symbolic carrying of a flame, the event showed <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
commitment to improving the lot of women across every<br />
aspect of its fast-evolving society. You only have to look<br />
at the high number of female graduates to realise how<br />
seriously <strong>Qatar</strong> takes its responsibility to women. Or the<br />
country’s record in terms of employment opportunities.<br />
Without in any way diminishing their traditional role<br />
within the nuclear family, <strong>Qatar</strong>i women have gone on to<br />
play leading roles in education, health, the law, aviation,<br />
finance and tourism.<br />
In the context of sport, a key landmark was 2001 -<br />
when the official seal of approval was given to the creation<br />
of the <strong>Qatar</strong> Women’s Sports <strong>Committee</strong> (QWSC) under<br />
Dr Al-Hitmi. This coincided with the unveiling of several<br />
women’s sports centres - designed so that female sporting<br />
talent in <strong>Qatar</strong> could be discovered and nurtured under<br />
the guidance of specialist female coaches.<br />
Leading the way<br />
In just a short space of time, the results of this effort<br />
have been striking - with increasing numbers of women<br />
participating in international events and winning medals.<br />
By the time of the 2006 Asian Games, <strong>Qatar</strong> could boast<br />
a substantial number of female competitors across a range<br />
of high-profile disciplines.<br />
The country even managed to come away with a bronze<br />
medal in shooting - quite an achievement when you<br />
consider that <strong>Qatar</strong>i women were not allowed to participate<br />
in this sport until the 2002 Asian Games in Busan (Korea).<br />
18 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
o o o o o o o o o<br />
women<br />
in sport<br />
Their success is exactly the kind of response Dr Al-Hitmi<br />
has been looking for. Speaking after the Games, she said:<br />
“Our women shooters have put in hard work right from<br />
the time we started. When they participated in the Islamic<br />
tournament for the first time, they won silver and bronze.<br />
From that point they have never looked backwards.” The<br />
view within the <strong>Qatar</strong>i sporting community is that results<br />
like this can spark a wave of interest among the next<br />
generation of female talent. “It’s a huge achievement for<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>,” said rallying ace, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah - himself<br />
a shooting competitor in Doha. “It will really change<br />
things for women’s sport. The girls have scripted a new<br />
way for the rest to follow. This shows the amount of talent<br />
we have. If we can get results in such a short time span,<br />
imagine what we can do in the long run.”<br />
Respecting traditions<br />
Winning medals is, of course, crucial to any sport<br />
development strategy. But as Dr Al-Hitmi suggests, it takes<br />
a lot of organisational effort behind the scenes to make<br />
things happen. Since early 2007, women across a range of<br />
age groups have taken part in camps, friendlies, qualifiers<br />
and competitive finals. From handball and volleyball to<br />
table tennis and swimming, <strong>Qatar</strong>’s female athletes have<br />
travelled as far afield as Malaysia, Taipei, Hungary, Egypt<br />
and Tunisia.<br />
Through it all <strong>Qatar</strong> has struck a delicate balance between<br />
empowerment for women and respect for the traditions<br />
of Islam. It was, for example, deemed inappropriate for<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>i women to participate in beach volleyball at Doha<br />
2006. But contrast that with athletics - where <strong>Qatar</strong> was<br />
the first Middle Eastern country to allow the participation<br />
of its women in competitions. Other sports open to<br />
women include basketball, chess, gymnastics and archery<br />
(in which Zeidan excels).<br />
As in other areas of <strong>Qatar</strong>i sports policy, the<br />
QWSC’s agenda is not just about unearthing elite<br />
talent.<br />
Royal approval<br />
From school age upwards, the attempt to get women<br />
playing and enjoying sport dovetails neatly with<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s wider Sport For All agenda. A good example is<br />
the way that the women in sport agenda has drilled down<br />
through individual disciplines. In 2006, for example, the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Table Tennis Association started working with an<br />
all-girls primary school in Doha to introduce the sport to<br />
children. The hope is that some of these girls will progress<br />
on to courses organised by the QWSC.<br />
Similarly, <strong>Qatar</strong>’s flagship venue, ASPIRE, plays a part<br />
in the ongoing programme to get women active. Conscious<br />
of the need to address women’s role in the context of the<br />
family, it joined forces with the QWSC to offer fitness<br />
classes to women and children at Al Markhiya Girls<br />
Primary School. Women Only and Mother and Toddler<br />
sessions were a way of meeting women half-way - as well<br />
as promoting the fact that women’s fitness courses are also<br />
available at ASPIRE’s world-class sporting facilities.<br />
Why is it, though, that the QWSC has been able to<br />
take such strides? Well, some observers say that the root of<br />
the story lies back in the 1970s - when <strong>Qatar</strong> first began to<br />
realise the social benefits and underlying justice of women<br />
playing sport.<br />
A bigger factor, however, has<br />
been the irrepressible energy of HH<br />
Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-<br />
Missned. As head of the Supreme<br />
Council of Family Affairs, the<br />
Sheikha has sought to introduce<br />
modern educational programmes<br />
for women in a way which does not<br />
contradict Islamic teachings. It was<br />
the Sheikha who also paved the way<br />
for the QWSC’s creation.<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>i sports star Nada Zeidan<br />
can’t speak highly enough of the<br />
Sheikha’s impact. “Sheikha Mozah<br />
opened sport up for women. She is<br />
a role model for all the Gulf people,<br />
not just the people of <strong>Qatar</strong>. What<br />
she is doing is something we are all<br />
very proud of.”<br />
It hasn’t been an easy road, says<br />
Zeidan: “At first people didn’t accept<br />
it, but now you see that children and<br />
whole families are getting involved in<br />
sport. In the past, a family would not<br />
even accept it if a woman’s name was<br />
mentioned in the media. Now we see women of <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
are competing for their country. Their family, friends and<br />
people are coming to support them.”<br />
With the Sheikha’s active support, the QWSC has been<br />
able to form a robust framework to pursue its goals. Aside<br />
from the visible activities outlined above, the QWSC<br />
works untiringly to promote women in sport. There are<br />
seminars, conferences and specialist studies designed<br />
to improve the technical and administrative standards<br />
of women’s sport in <strong>Qatar</strong>. In addition, there are the<br />
Above: Nada Zeidan...<br />
working for women’s<br />
“Sheikha Mozah opened sport up for women.<br />
She is a role model for all the Gulf people, not<br />
just the people of <strong>Qatar</strong>. What she is doing is<br />
something we are all very proud of”<br />
recently-constructed sports facilities referred to above. To<br />
date, <strong>Qatar</strong> has invested in five sports centres, a ladies’<br />
tennis hall and a centre for girls’ sports. There are currently<br />
26 <strong>Qatar</strong>i female coaches in various sports fields - not to<br />
mention experienced coaches brought in from abroad.<br />
Also key has been the QWSC’s willingness to learn<br />
from the international market. For example, it has worked<br />
with the IOC and the QOC to implement internationallyapproved<br />
programmes that enable women and girls to feel<br />
fully involved in sport. There’s been a strong dialogue<br />
with other regional bodies - notably the Islamic Women’s<br />
Union in Iran, the Arab Women’s Sports League in Egypt<br />
and the Asian Work Group For Women and Sports in<br />
Japan. A point of pride was the election of Dr Al-Hitmi as<br />
VP of the IWU (Asia region).<br />
Let’s also not forget the heavy investment that <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
has made in bringing world-class events to its soil, which<br />
can only serve to inspire the next crop of <strong>Qatar</strong>i talent by<br />
showing them the rewards available to those who manage<br />
to achieve excellence in their sporting discipline.<br />
sport.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 19
Making Sport<br />
Every sector of <strong>Qatar</strong>i society can get involved in sport whether<br />
it’s for fitness, fun or elite competition.<br />
Above: HE<br />
Sheikh Saoud Bin<br />
Abdulrahman<br />
Al-Thani, QOC<br />
Secretary General,<br />
supports the Sport For<br />
All campaign.<br />
Facing page: ASPIRE is<br />
championing the Sport<br />
For All agenda.<br />
The 15th Asian Games in Doha is widely acknowledged<br />
to have been one of the most impressive multi-sports<br />
events to have ever been staged. As such, it is testament<br />
to the sporting revolution that is taking place across the<br />
Middle East. But hosting elite events is only one part<br />
of the <strong>Qatar</strong>i sports strategy. Just as important is the<br />
country’s desire to encourage greater involvement with<br />
sport among its population, says Tariq Al-Ali, Secretary<br />
General of the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>’s Sport For<br />
All programme. “<strong>Qatar</strong> is facing the same issues as other<br />
developed economies. Adults are busy and as a result they<br />
are not making time for sport. Children are spending<br />
too much of their time in front of screens and storing up<br />
health problems as a consequence.”<br />
Asian Games legacy<br />
The creation of a QOC-backed Sport For All <strong>Committee</strong><br />
is <strong>Qatar</strong>’s attempt to address these problems. Comprising<br />
experts in the fields of physical education, social policy and<br />
health, it is attempting to get people up on their feet again.<br />
The problem is not lack of facilities but lack of motivation,<br />
says Al-Ali. “Anyone in <strong>Qatar</strong> is within easy reach of a<br />
tennis court, swimming pool or a safe place to walk with<br />
the family. The Asian Games legacy is that we have firstclass<br />
facilities integrated into the fabric of <strong>Qatar</strong>.”<br />
The good news is that the Asian Games has had a<br />
positive impact on the way the population thinks about<br />
sport. “We haven’t solved the problem,” says Al-Ali. “But<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>i people felt a tremendous amount of pride in the<br />
success of the Games - and that has made them think more<br />
about how they might make sport a part of their daily<br />
routine. We made sure that as many people as possible<br />
were actively involved in the organisation of the Games -<br />
and that has made them realise sport isn’t just about elite<br />
achievement.”<br />
In terms of day-to-day activities, the Sport For All<br />
<strong>Committee</strong> is getting the message out via schools,<br />
workplaces, community associations and above-the-line<br />
marketing campaigns, says Al-Ali. “We have to strike the<br />
right balance. While it is important to make people aware<br />
of these issues, <strong>Qatar</strong>is have to want to help themselves.<br />
They need to take greater responsibility for their own wellbeing.”<br />
In terms of its calendar of events, the <strong>Committee</strong><br />
spends part of its time focusing on society stakeholders<br />
and part of its time organising events for the population.<br />
So, for example, there has been a sports day for <strong>Qatar</strong>i<br />
Ministries and a Diplomatic Day - events designed to<br />
keep policy-makers focused on the issue. In addition, the<br />
<strong>Committee</strong> organises events around fishing, futsal and<br />
fitness training. There has been a Family Recreational Day,<br />
a UN Walk Against Hunger and, most notably, a high<br />
profile <strong>Olympic</strong> Day Run. “The <strong>Olympic</strong> Day Run is an<br />
initiative launched by the IOC 20 years ago,” says Al-Ali.<br />
“We now have a <strong>Qatar</strong>i version of that which acts as a great<br />
focal point for the Sports For All philosophy.”<br />
Last year’s edition of the <strong>Olympic</strong> Day Run saw 800<br />
people congregate at the country’s impressive Aspire Zone<br />
20 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
o o o o o o o o o<br />
sport<br />
FOR ALL<br />
in June to take part in a 3km run, says Al-Ali: “The<br />
event was led by His Excellency Sheikh Saoud bin<br />
Abdulrahman Al-Thani - which is very significant<br />
because it shows the enthusiastic support for our<br />
programme from policy-makers. It was a great<br />
success - though we have been given permission<br />
to change the date because of the hot weather in<br />
June. Hopefully that will help us boost numbers<br />
in 2008.”<br />
For all ages<br />
Looking back at the day, one of the highlights<br />
for Al-Ali was the range of ages involved in the<br />
event. “We divided the race into five different<br />
categories to accommodate the ability levels of<br />
all involved,” he recalls. “Aside from breaking<br />
a Way of Life<br />
groups down by age, we catered for everyone from club<br />
athletes to those with special needs.”<br />
The coordination of the <strong>Olympic</strong> Day Run is aided by<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> sponsorship partners like McDonald’s. The next<br />
step, says Al-Ali, will be to co-opt local companies which<br />
can help the Sport For All <strong>Committee</strong> realise its goals.<br />
“The <strong>Committee</strong> was revamped a couple of months ago -<br />
so there hasn’t been time to draw up a proper sponsorship<br />
framework. In 2008 we will try and get more partners<br />
involved in grass roots activities. When you look at how<br />
supportive the private sector was during the Doha Asian<br />
Games, I’m optimistic that we will again be able to draw<br />
on their expertise.”<br />
One local partner which has played a key part in the<br />
Sport For All agenda is the ASPIRE Academy. It was a<br />
partner in the Walk Against Hunger and has devised a<br />
range of physical education teacher training courses as part<br />
of its ongoing effort to help increase involvement in sport<br />
in <strong>Qatar</strong>. The goal has been to provide more qualified PE<br />
teachers - particularly those with an understanding of how<br />
to engage with young children and women.<br />
Fitness and health<br />
As outlined above, the top priority for the Sports For All<br />
<strong>Committee</strong> is to keep <strong>Qatar</strong> fit and healthy - since this has<br />
a knock on effect in terms of social cohesion, contentment<br />
and work-place productivity.<br />
Al-Ali believes, however, that there is a clear common<br />
interest between <strong>Qatar</strong>’s health agenda and its tourism<br />
strategy. “<strong>Qatar</strong> has placed a strong emphasis on attracting<br />
overseas visitors through golf, watersports, fishing, falconry<br />
and horse racing - not to mention the major events we<br />
host. These may not all be the kind of things people can<br />
do everyday after they finish work, but they are all part<br />
of a joined up strategy which puts sport at the heart of the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>i success story.<br />
“If visitors see <strong>Qatar</strong> as a regional sporting hub, that<br />
will rub off on how our people perceive themselves and<br />
their society.”<br />
Sport For All<br />
Missions and Objectives in <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
• To encourage and support the development of sporting<br />
activities through all generations<br />
• To promote sport as an essential element for the well being<br />
of individuals and society<br />
• To support the efforts and development of other<br />
organisations already involved in Sport for All<br />
• To build on the enthusiasm and momentum generated and<br />
help to organise nationwide sporting activities<br />
• To undertake the challenges of a world where physical<br />
activity is on the decrease<br />
• To educate and inform of the benefits of sport and the<br />
possibilities that are offered to practice sport<br />
• To convince public authorities of the role they can play in<br />
underlining the benefit of sport to society<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 21
CELEBRATING<br />
SCHOOL OLYMPIC DAY<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s youngsters are preparing for the<br />
climax of the School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day<br />
programme which sets out to encourage<br />
participation in sport and even identify<br />
future champions.<br />
Above: Youngsters<br />
enjoy a day of sport,<br />
education and culture<br />
on School <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
Day .<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s youngsters will celebrate sport and the<br />
founding of the National <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> when a<br />
five month programme of sports and sports-related events<br />
reaches its climax on March 14.<br />
School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day will provide a fitting finale for the<br />
programme which was instigated by The Heir Apparent<br />
HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and launched<br />
by <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> Secretary General Sheikh<br />
Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in November last year.<br />
For some 70,000 <strong>Qatar</strong>i children, School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day<br />
“The future of sport lies with youth<br />
and in many respects, the future of<br />
youth lies in sport”<br />
has provided a series of opportunities to embrace sport<br />
and sportsmanship and to discover the virtues of a healthy<br />
lifestyle.<br />
Enjoying the day<br />
“School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day is not just about competition. It<br />
will also give the children an opportunity to enjoy sports<br />
and understand the role that it can play in their lives,<br />
not just as competitors but from a social point of view,”<br />
explained QOC Director Khalil Al Jaber, who oversees<br />
the programme.<br />
Boys and girls from <strong>Qatar</strong>’s public and private schools<br />
will have a chance to take part in eight events, including<br />
football, handball, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics,<br />
swimming, fencing as well as educational and cultural<br />
challenges before the Closing Ceremony on March 14,<br />
the anniversary of the QOC’s establishment in 1979.<br />
“Everyone is now looking forward to the events at Aspire<br />
on November 14 and we expect a large crowd to share the<br />
moment,” said Khalil Al Jaber.<br />
“Right now children are entering a competition to take<br />
part in the Closing Ceremony and to devise the slogan<br />
for next year’s events. In this way everybody has an<br />
opportunity to be part of the day, not only those who are<br />
taking part in the various events.”<br />
School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day is a key part of the QOC’s strategy<br />
to engage the community in sport and to promote the<br />
concept of committing to Sport for Life.<br />
“It works on every level,” said Khalil Al Jaber.<br />
“In each school two hours per week is set aside for School<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> Day. This is on top of the three hours of physical<br />
education which are a mandatory part of the curriculum<br />
for all children in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
“This helps us to allow children to experience different<br />
sports and to compete in those that they enjoy and have<br />
an aptitude for. We hope that experience of sport will stay<br />
with them for life and that they will remain interested and<br />
active.<br />
The future of sport<br />
“We also involve the parents who, naturally, have an<br />
important role to play and the Sports Federations who<br />
have the opportunity to identify potentially talented<br />
youngsters at an early age. That has to be good for the<br />
longer-term development of sport in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
“We share the same concerns as other National <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
<strong>Committee</strong>s and national governments about the way<br />
that changes in lifestyle and diet are beginning to affect<br />
the health of the nation. School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day is a<br />
tremendously important national event which addresses<br />
many concerns. We want our youngsters to experience<br />
sport, enjoy themselves and adopt healthy lifestyle habits.”<br />
Khalil Al Jaber, who joined the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
<strong>Committee</strong> from the Ministry of Education, has travelled<br />
widely and brought lessons learned in Europe, the<br />
United States and elsewhere to bear on the work of his<br />
department.<br />
“We are always listening and learning from governments<br />
and academic institutions around the world. In fact, we<br />
are working with Loughborough University in the United<br />
Kingdom to develop our Physical Education curriculum.<br />
It is very important to us that we provide the best<br />
opportunities and teaching for the pupils. “<br />
“We want them to find the School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day activities<br />
fun and socially stimulating. The important thing is that<br />
it is not really about the result of the game but the results<br />
in the longer term in the way an entire generation engages<br />
with sport as part of life.<br />
The main School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day competitions and<br />
ceremonies at ASPIRE on March 14 will be preceded<br />
on March 13 by a series of activities for beginners and<br />
young children. The event will also provide a showcase for<br />
traditional Arab sports which are a central part of <strong>Qatar</strong>i<br />
culture.<br />
“IOC President Jacques Rogge has identified the fact<br />
that the future of sport lies with youth and that, in many<br />
respects, the future of youth lies in sport. We fully support<br />
his plans for a Youth <strong>Olympic</strong> Games and my sincere wish<br />
is that we will see <strong>Qatar</strong>i athletes competing in the Youth<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> Games and the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games themselves as<br />
a result of the inspiration of the School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day,”<br />
Khalil Al Jaber said.<br />
22 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
BUILDING THE<br />
FOUNDATIONS<br />
OF QATAR SPORT<br />
How the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>’s<br />
Facilities Department plays a unique role<br />
in delivering opportunities for Sport For<br />
Life and attracting major international<br />
events to the country.<br />
Above: Inside the<br />
state-of-the-art Al-<br />
Sadd Stadium, one of<br />
the jewels in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
crown of sporting<br />
facilities.<br />
While many of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s leading sports venues have<br />
won international acclaim in recent years, the commitment<br />
to quality in design, construction, functionality and<br />
management is not restricted to those facilities selected to<br />
stage world-class events.<br />
The role of providing and maintaining sports facilities<br />
throughout <strong>Qatar</strong>, from the Khalifa International Tennis<br />
and Squash Centre to superbly equipped sports clubs<br />
in outlying communities, falls to the Sports Facilities<br />
Department of the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> and is,<br />
consequently, firmly embedded in the QOC’s mission.<br />
Facility pioneers<br />
“We may well be the only <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> in the world<br />
to have its own engineering department,” says Fareed<br />
Mohammed Al-Abdullah, Director of the Sports Facilities<br />
Department, whose work in providing, equipping and<br />
maintaining the facilities used by professional athletes and<br />
the community at large underpins the entire QOC concept<br />
of Sport For Life. In <strong>Qatar</strong> the promotion of sports and a<br />
healthy lifestyle and the provision of the required facilities<br />
are simply indivisible. Fareed Mohammed Al-Abdullah<br />
was appointed director of this critical department in<br />
2007, having overseen the development and operation<br />
of facilities for the previous year’s Asian Games in Doha.<br />
He’s a highly qualified civil and structural engineer with<br />
a passion for sport and the leisure industry and, from his<br />
office amid the forest of elaborately designed, futuristic<br />
tower blocks which characterise modern day Doha, it is<br />
easy to understand how his department fits into the overall<br />
picture of development.<br />
“Sport is at the heart of social policy here in <strong>Qatar</strong>, which<br />
makes the work of the department essential,” he said.<br />
“Our role is to plan, construct and maintain new sports<br />
facilities as well as developing and upgrading existing ones.<br />
We want to be pioneers in providing the best interactive<br />
sports facilities and services and, in doing so, to help build<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s global presence by applying innovation to the task<br />
of enriching the nation’s sports infrastructure.”<br />
Not that the department’s work is restricted to <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
itself. In addition to a comprehensive workload over the<br />
length and breadth of the country, the Sports Facilities<br />
Department is playing a pivotal role in a number of<br />
important <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> projects beyond its<br />
own borders. These include building the Sakhnin Stadium<br />
in Palestine, developing the Tuzor Stadium in Tunis<br />
and building the South <strong>Olympic</strong> City in Ansar, South<br />
Lebanon.<br />
“Our objective is to improve the quality and number<br />
of sports facilities in <strong>Qatar</strong> to ensure that we provide our<br />
existing users and future customers with the best services<br />
and ensure the highest level of satisfaction. That is critical<br />
both to our ability to attract international events to <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
and to encouraging <strong>Qatar</strong>i citizens to engage in and really<br />
enjoy sports,” Al-Abdullah said.<br />
Delivering strategy<br />
“Our strategy falls into three broad areas. First, we must<br />
improve access to and usage of existing venues. Second, we<br />
have to ensure that we build and operate sufficient facilities<br />
to cope with the booming population of <strong>Qatar</strong>, both in<br />
terms of <strong>Qatar</strong>is and the growing number of expatriates.<br />
Third, we will construct and operate purpose-built venues<br />
for activities which are not currently catered for.”<br />
The large, multi-disciplined team of people responsible<br />
for delivering the wide-ranging programmes consists of<br />
24 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
designers and engineers, administrators and technicians<br />
who operate in four sections: Engineering; Contracts and<br />
Work Orders; Operations and Maintenance; and Services<br />
and Facilities Preparation.<br />
The departmental structure is designed to ensure that<br />
every base is proficiently and professionally covered, from<br />
grand plans for new buildings to the provision of all<br />
requirements to stage a sports event.<br />
Event ambitions<br />
It is also a structure which reflects the breadth of the department’s<br />
remit and the way it dovetails with QOC and<br />
national policy. Al-Abdullah is clearly proud of what his<br />
team has achieved to date and will oversee an ambitious<br />
programme in the years ahead as <strong>Qatar</strong> underscores its<br />
place in world sport. The department has a full and growing<br />
schedule of projects designed to ensure that facilities<br />
are always able to deliver optimum services to their users.<br />
“The Asian Games were only the beginning for sport<br />
in <strong>Qatar</strong>. We now have a programme to ensure that we<br />
build on the progress achieved and the momentum we<br />
have created,” he said.<br />
“Our current schedule includes the provision of new<br />
swimming pools at a number of sports clubs, upgrading<br />
the tennis and squash complex to increase capacity<br />
of the main court to 12,000, designing and building<br />
an Endurance Village in the south of <strong>Qatar</strong>, creating a<br />
new indoor equestrian facility and a new beach sports<br />
compound.”<br />
The result of this constant round of activity is that <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
has one of the world’s most modern and sophisticated<br />
sporting infrastructures, enabling it to host regional and<br />
world championships in the broadest range of events and<br />
disciplines.<br />
“The Asian Games was the biggest challenge that I have<br />
faced and I am very proud to have been a part of it,” said<br />
Al-Abdullah.<br />
“The work that we undertook for the Asian Games and<br />
since has also enabled us to develop a tremendous amount<br />
of knowledge and practical experience which we are now<br />
able to contribute worldwide. This can be seen directly in<br />
our overseas projects, but also in the number of visitors<br />
who come to <strong>Qatar</strong> to see how we do things.”<br />
And that is clear evidence of how the world of sport is<br />
changing.<br />
o o o o o o o o o<br />
FACILITIES<br />
BRIEFING - THE QATAR OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S KEY FACILITIES<br />
Delivering sports opportunitiES for the entire population is a key part of the<br />
department’s brief and is met in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s more remote areas by a Social and Cultural<br />
Clubs project which delivers facilities that combine football field, gymnasium and<br />
changing rooms with a library, computer hall and multi-purpose hall capable of<br />
staging a range of events. At the next level of facility standard are the ‘Second<br />
Grade’ clubs, equipped to match any in the world.<br />
These clubs provide not only a key element of the Sport for Life programme but<br />
the impetus and support required by budding athletes to develop their enthusiasm<br />
into international class performances. Other facilities are purpose-built to meet the<br />
needs of individual sports or group of sports, but each benefits from a consistent<br />
commitment to quality in design, construction and equipment.<br />
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT<br />
<strong>DOHA</strong> SAILING CLUB<br />
Built in 2005 on the Doha Corniche,<br />
the club hosted the Asian Games sailing<br />
programme.<br />
QATAR EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION<br />
This world-leading facility incorporates<br />
leading-edge technology. It includes an<br />
indoor training and warm-up arena, main<br />
arena, more than 150 fully air-conditioned<br />
stables, offices, store-rooms, jockey’s rooms<br />
and a mosque.<br />
Designed and built with safety in mind,<br />
the track - which includes a drag strip -<br />
was designed to provide a testing ground<br />
for up and coming racing enthusiasts to<br />
hone their talents. Recent developments<br />
include the construction of a new, twostorey<br />
administration building, track<br />
modifications, installation of a new<br />
electronic screen and spectator seats.<br />
LUSAIL SHOOTING RANGE<br />
The region’s largest shooting facility was<br />
upgraded for the 15th Asian Games. It<br />
covers more than 1 million square metres<br />
and comprises open and covered ranges<br />
of up to 300 metres, large electronic<br />
scoreboards and the facilities required to<br />
record and edit results digitally.<br />
Continued overleaf...<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 25
BRIEFING - THE QATAR OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S KEY FACILITIES<br />
Continued from previous page<br />
KHALIFA INTERNATIONAL TENNIS<br />
AND SQUASH COMPLEX<br />
This long-established venue for ATP Tour<br />
and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events was<br />
the centre for tennis at the Asian Games,<br />
for which the main stadium court was<br />
extensively refurbished and broadcast<br />
standard lighting introduced. The complex<br />
has a further two main courts with<br />
spectator seating and 23 outside courts as<br />
well as state-of-the-art squash centre and<br />
support facilities.<br />
MAJOR SPORTS CLUBS<br />
AL-RAYYAN<br />
QATAR SPORTS CLUB<br />
AL-GHARAFA<br />
The Al-Rayyan club’s 25,000 seater stadium<br />
has hosted matches in the Gulf Football<br />
Tournament, West Asian Games and Doha<br />
2006 Asian games as well as for the <strong>Qatar</strong>i<br />
national team. It is a self-contained sports<br />
complex with an indoor hall capable of<br />
accommodating 3,000 spectators, training<br />
hall, hockey field and further football and<br />
athletics training facilities.<br />
AL-ARABI<br />
Established in 1952, the Al-Arabi Sports<br />
Club is considered one of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s finest. Its<br />
stylish main stadium accommodates 13,000<br />
spectators and is complemented by a<br />
multi-purpose indoor hall, swimming pool,<br />
training fields, administration and changing<br />
facilities.<br />
Described as a ‘pearl on the Doha<br />
Corniche’ the <strong>Qatar</strong> Sports Club has built<br />
an international reputation. It has hosted<br />
the IAAF <strong>Qatar</strong> Super Grand Prix event<br />
since 2004 and many other international<br />
events. The 15,000 capacity main stadium<br />
is equipped with an athletics track, while<br />
the original sports hall has been expanded<br />
and complemented by a stunning new<br />
multi-purpose hall.<br />
AL-KHOR<br />
The Al-Khor club is a gathering place for<br />
the communities of Northern <strong>Qatar</strong>. In<br />
addition to the main stadium, it comprises<br />
swimming and diving pools with a multipurpose<br />
indoor hall and squash courts.<br />
AL-WAKRA<br />
Established nearly 50 years ago, the Al-<br />
Wakra club has a refurbished main stadium<br />
and a 50m x 50m multi-purpose indoor<br />
hall.<br />
With a capacity of 25,000 spectators, the<br />
main stadium at the Al-Gharafa Sports<br />
Club has hosted many international<br />
football events. But the stadium is not<br />
the only highly impressive feature of this<br />
centre of sporting excellence. The club’s<br />
main sports hall is a stylish modern facility,<br />
with a seating capacity of 3,000 spectators<br />
for a wide range of sports activities, while<br />
the training and administration facilities<br />
included within the complex are all worldclass.<br />
AL-SADD<br />
The Al-Sadd Sports Club comprises a<br />
stylish, modern 15,000 seat stadium and<br />
a range of other world class facilities. The<br />
complex includes an <strong>Olympic</strong> standard<br />
swimming pool, a multi-purpose indoor<br />
sports hall, along with training pitches and<br />
an athletics track.<br />
26 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
o o o o o o o o o<br />
partners<br />
in sport<br />
Qtel and sport –<br />
the perfect match<br />
Sport will be high on the agenda for <strong>Qatar</strong> telecom (QTEL) in 2008 and<br />
beyond. The telecoms company will support many of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s most<br />
High-profile events this year from golf to MotoGP and tennis to athletics.<br />
The years of change before and after the 15th Asian<br />
Games Doha 2006 have been unprecedented in the<br />
history of <strong>Qatar</strong> sport. It has been the best of times with<br />
every sporting stakeholder getting behind the government<br />
plan to put sport at the centre of national life.<br />
The business sector has been especially supportive,<br />
as exemplified by <strong>Qatar</strong>’s leading telecommunications<br />
company, <strong>Qatar</strong> Telecom, which has seldom been far<br />
from the action in pursuit of this goal.<br />
Qtel aims to support the sporting culture of the State<br />
of <strong>Qatar</strong> while demonstrating the country’s expertise<br />
in organising and hosting the best-in-class events. It’s a<br />
strategy that encompasses tennis, golf, football, motorsports,<br />
athletics and, of course, the Asian Games, and<br />
has helped attract major international stars like Justine<br />
Henin, Roger Federer, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia<br />
to these shores. But at its core, says Adel Al Mutawa,<br />
Executive Director Group Communication Acting<br />
at Qtel, the sponsorship strategy is based around one<br />
simple idea - contributing to the community.<br />
“As a <strong>Qatar</strong>i company, Qtel believes it needs to<br />
contribute to the community,” Al Mutawa explains.<br />
“One of the major activities within the community is<br />
sport so we believe there is a role for the private sector to<br />
play in supporting these activities, especially those that<br />
involve youth. As part of our investment in corporate<br />
social responsibility, Qtel is also working in sponsorship<br />
of the health and education sectors so there are different<br />
elements to our strategy that will all have a positive<br />
impact in youth and the community.”<br />
While these important sectors deserve Qtel’s attention,<br />
the biggest sponsorship ever undertaken by Qtel - and<br />
the biggest technical and logistical challenge - was Qtel’s<br />
sponsorship of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.<br />
Qtel was the first of the big four ‘Prestige Partners’<br />
to sign up for Doha 2006 and, as the official telecoms<br />
provider to the Games, it needed as much time as<br />
possible to put the communications infrastructure for<br />
the event in place.<br />
The Games of your Life<br />
Qtel spent over QR 500m ($137 million) to provide<br />
all telecommunications-related services for the Asian<br />
Games and Qtel’s team worked tirelessly for two years<br />
to upgrade its fixed and wireless networks to handle<br />
the massive influx of visitors, international media and<br />
broadcasters from around the world.<br />
The result was a text-book delivery of the telecom<br />
requirements of the Games that has raised the bar for<br />
other operators around the world in delivering such<br />
huge international events.<br />
“Qtel was thrilled to be part of the Asian Games because<br />
it was a national event,” says Al Mutawa. “As a <strong>Qatar</strong>i<br />
company we put in a lot of effort to support the country<br />
in its goals for the Games - to achieve the expected results<br />
and make sure the telecoms infrastructure could support<br />
Above: Adel Al Mutawa,<br />
Executive Director<br />
Group Communication<br />
Acting at Qtel.<br />
Main picture: The<br />
Serbian teenager Ana<br />
Ivanovic won last year’s<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Telecom German<br />
Open.<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 27
QTEL – RAISING<br />
QATAR’S PROFILE<br />
“Through our commitment to<br />
sport we are certainly raising<br />
the profile of <strong>Qatar</strong>. In only a<br />
few short years, <strong>Qatar</strong> has had<br />
phenomenal success holding a<br />
number of international sporting<br />
events. People have travelled<br />
from all over the world to attend<br />
these events, which has resulted<br />
in a boost to tourism numbers<br />
as people discover the potential<br />
of <strong>Qatar</strong>. Through sponsoring<br />
sports events, we can show<br />
the international community<br />
our wonderful nation and can<br />
establish it as a world class<br />
leader in organising international<br />
events. We want to be an example<br />
of how to do things right, and<br />
here at Qtel, we want to support<br />
that movement and help <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
enjoy its success and realise its<br />
potential.”<br />
Above: Veterans of the<br />
track, Nigel Mansell<br />
and Pierluigi Martini<br />
before the Grand Prix<br />
Masters of <strong>Qatar</strong> 2006.<br />
so much traffic. This sponsorship was something different<br />
- it was not only about financial support, but about<br />
helping <strong>Qatar</strong> host the Asian Games and investing in the<br />
communication infrastructure to handle the bandwidth<br />
required to broadcast high quality video all over the world.<br />
The Doha Asian Games Organising <strong>Committee</strong> was<br />
really proud that during the whole period of the Games<br />
there was not a single error in the telecoms infrastructure<br />
carrying their content - the TV pictures, the radio, the<br />
GSM, everything. And because of this major investment<br />
we believe we can support the country in hosting whatever<br />
events come in the future.”<br />
“The [Doha 2006] sponsorship was<br />
something different - it was not only about<br />
financial support, but about helping <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
host the Asian Games”<br />
Total commitment<br />
The legacy of the Games in terms of Qtel’s capability<br />
and continuing commitment to sport is impressive.<br />
One month after the Games, Qtel had another chance<br />
to prove its worth with the 10th anniversary of the<br />
Commercialbank <strong>Qatar</strong> Masters at the Doha Golf Club.<br />
Qtel was one of the major supporters of the $2.2 million<br />
event, which featured household names such as Retief<br />
Goosen, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Chris DiMarco.<br />
Again, Qtel’s involvement helped broadcasters and media<br />
deliver high-quality programmes, and send pictures and<br />
reports to ensure that coverage of the PGA European Tour<br />
and Asian Tour-sanctioned event was bigger than ever<br />
before.<br />
Important as it is, Qtel’s technology support for major<br />
events doesn’t tell the full story. In fact, it’s not too strong<br />
a statement to say that over the past five years, Qtel has<br />
helped put <strong>Qatar</strong> on the sporting map. In 2006, Qtel<br />
supported tennis with its sponsorship of the Qtel ATP<br />
Tour of Champions, which saw tennis greats such as Henri<br />
Leconte, Pat Cash and Richard Krajicek all play in front of<br />
large crowds in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
This event includes players who have been either a<br />
world number one during their competitive playing<br />
careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist or a singles player<br />
in a victorious Davis Cup team. Qtel is currently the<br />
exclusive sponsor of this world-class event.<br />
Qtel and the <strong>Qatar</strong> Tennis Federation share a longstanding<br />
partnership and the telecoms company has been<br />
a sponsor of the <strong>Qatar</strong> Tennis Open championships for<br />
men and women (title-sponsored by Exxon Mobil and<br />
TotalFina Elf respectively in 2007) for several years.<br />
Tennis has also served the Qtel brand well in its support<br />
of QTF events outside <strong>Qatar</strong>, including the <strong>Qatar</strong> German<br />
Open Ladies Tournament (Tier I) in Berlin since 2005<br />
and the ATP Masters Series for Men in Hamburg from<br />
last year. Europeans are intrigued by <strong>Qatar</strong>’s presence in<br />
the presentation and organisation of these events, and for<br />
Al Mutawa, the sponsorships make perfect sense.<br />
“In these sponsorships outside of <strong>Qatar</strong>, we are not only<br />
supporting the federation in promoting the sport, but<br />
promoting <strong>Qatar</strong> to the world,” he says. “When reaching<br />
outside of <strong>Qatar</strong> we prove that we are capable of handling<br />
and supporting the tennis federation in Germany or<br />
anywhere in the world.<br />
“We believe that by sponsoring the <strong>Qatar</strong> Telecom<br />
German Open we will further strengthen <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
commitment to supporting first class sports events. In fact,<br />
due to its overwhelming success, the International Tennis<br />
Federation is now thinking of permanently moving the<br />
tournament to <strong>Qatar</strong>. This is a wonderful testament to the<br />
success of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s organisation and infrastructure and to<br />
its success as a truly world-class sporting nation.”<br />
Last May, Qtel further demonstrated its continuous<br />
commitment towards promoting sports in <strong>Qatar</strong> as the<br />
exclusive Prestige Partner of the <strong>Qatar</strong> Athletics Super<br />
Grand Prix.<br />
This event, which has been held in <strong>Qatar</strong> since 2005, is<br />
hosted by the <strong>Qatar</strong> Association of Athletics Federation<br />
in collaboration with the IAAF and attracted some of the<br />
world’s biggest names in Athletics to the <strong>Qatar</strong> Sports<br />
Club. “We believe this event continues to show <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
commitment to the world of sport and its place as an<br />
internationally renowned sporting destination,” says<br />
Al Mutawa. “We will continue to be involved in any<br />
28 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
o o o o o o o o o<br />
partners<br />
in sport<br />
Left: Qtel services<br />
featured in the Media<br />
Centre for the 15th<br />
Asian Games.<br />
opportunity to raise <strong>Qatar</strong>’s profile in all international<br />
sports events.”<br />
Qtel’s portfolio of international event sponsorships has also<br />
grown with the exclusive sponsorship of the Grand Prix<br />
Masters of <strong>Qatar</strong> 2006, organised by the <strong>Qatar</strong> Motor and<br />
Motorcycle Federation which gave local sports enthusiasts<br />
the opportunity to see legendary drivers, such as former<br />
F1 stars Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi, for the first<br />
time in <strong>Qatar</strong>. In motorsports, Qtel is also a supporter of<br />
MotoGP and the Endurance Championships.<br />
And, of course, Qtel is a major supporter of national<br />
events involving <strong>Qatar</strong>’s most popular sport. In an<br />
agreement with the <strong>Qatar</strong> Football Association, Qtel is the<br />
Platinum sponsor of the Emir Cup and the Heir Apparent<br />
Cup. Qtel’s profile in football will build on its status as<br />
one of four Prestige Partners of the 17th Gulf Cup held<br />
in Doha in 2004, which will always be remembered for<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>’s penalty shoot-out win against Oman in the final.<br />
Future ambitions<br />
Looking to the future in terms of new technology, event<br />
sponsorship and, of course, competition in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s<br />
telecoms market, which came into play on December<br />
10, Qtel is well-placed to make a full contribution to the<br />
quality of <strong>Qatar</strong>’s commercial and sporting life. Al Mutawa<br />
welcomes competition and believes it will raise standards<br />
- and focus business strategies. “I think competition will<br />
bring telecoms to an advanced stage in the state of <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
We are going to develop our services and look into our<br />
strategy in order to give an even better contribution<br />
towards the community.”<br />
This is partly being shown in Qtel’s new role as a<br />
distributor of sports content to mobile handsets. Qtel<br />
customers can now not only receive near-live video goal<br />
highlights of <strong>Qatar</strong>i League matches, but also subscribe<br />
to SMS and video alerts from English Premier League,<br />
Spanish and Italian Leagues, and there will be more<br />
leagues and sports to come.<br />
But it’s in the sponsorship strategies that Qtel can really<br />
reach out to the hearts and minds of the people.<br />
“We always try to link our brand with many elements<br />
QTEL – SUPPORTING SPORT IN QATAR<br />
“We support sport in <strong>Qatar</strong> because of the tremendous<br />
importance it plays in human life, health and the<br />
development of our country. We believe that sport<br />
encourages a healthy mind and body and we’re keen to<br />
support the sporting culture of the State of <strong>Qatar</strong>, and<br />
demonstrate our country’s expertise in organising and<br />
hosting best-in-class events. Here at Qtel, we know<br />
that by supporting sport we can actually support our<br />
society as it continues to grow. We recognise the great<br />
diversity of our population, with people from every<br />
corner of the globe calling <strong>Qatar</strong> home.<br />
Sport has always been a bridge between people. It is<br />
therefore important for us to back the expansion of<br />
sport both on a national and international level and for<br />
us to safeguard its growth within <strong>Qatar</strong>. Sport matters<br />
to the people, to the country and to Qtel. We work hard<br />
to ensure we are constantly challenging and raising<br />
current standards to make the quality of our service<br />
truly world class.”<br />
in life so we have a new sponsorship strategy that will be<br />
shown to the public from 2008 which will have a different<br />
angle towards supporting the community and different<br />
ways of reaching different segments within the country,”<br />
Al Mutawa asserts.<br />
But be assured that sport will play a big role. “With<br />
the investment in sports infrastructure, <strong>Qatar</strong> will move<br />
forward with more events and activities for sport. We need<br />
to be a partner with sport and help to build that success<br />
and be a partner of that success.”<br />
“We will continue to be involved in any<br />
opportunity to raise <strong>Qatar</strong>’s profile in all<br />
international sports events”<br />
Some might doubt that a private company could be so<br />
committed to its country’s sporting goals, but Al Mutawa<br />
is clear about Qtel’s inextricable link with the fortunes of<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> and its people.<br />
“Qtel is linked with <strong>Qatar</strong> - our campaign is linked<br />
with <strong>Qatar</strong> and the success of the country is linked to the<br />
success of Qtel,” he says.<br />
“We believe in partnership and mutual benefit and that<br />
there should be a strong telecoms company in this country<br />
that is supporting many different events. We are linking<br />
our dream with the success of <strong>Qatar</strong>.”<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 29
o o o o o o o o o<br />
flying<br />
the flag<br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> bronze<br />
Mohamed Suleiman won <strong>Qatar</strong>’s first ever medal at the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games when<br />
he won bronze in the 1500m at Barcelona 1992 - an achievement that has<br />
earned the runner a special place in <strong>Qatar</strong>’s sporting history. Since then,<br />
Suleiman has seen support for athletics bloom in <strong>Qatar</strong>.<br />
Golden memories<br />
Right: Mohamed<br />
Suleiman enjoyed a<br />
medal-winning run<br />
of success for <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
during the 1990s.<br />
For many athletes, their careers come full circle the<br />
moment they finish competing and pass on the baton of<br />
their experience to the next generation of youthful talent.<br />
When <strong>Qatar</strong> Sports spoke to Mohamed Ahmed<br />
Suleiman, <strong>Qatar</strong>’s first-ever <strong>Olympic</strong> medalist in the<br />
1500m at the 1992 Barcelona Games, he was doing just<br />
that, having overseen the <strong>Qatar</strong> Cup Indoor competition<br />
for the youngest class of athletes - the mini cadets and<br />
youth - at the ASPIRE Indoor Hall in December.<br />
Coincidently, he had just been talking to a friend about<br />
the incredible facilities at ASPIRE and how things had<br />
changed from his youthful training days, when there were<br />
just two or three tracks to practice on, including Khalifa<br />
Stadium.<br />
“I ran at the Asian Games in Seoul 1986,<br />
Beijing 1990, Hiroshima 1994 and in<br />
Bangkok 1998 and, believe me, Doha<br />
2006 was something special.”<br />
Now, he says, there are running tracks and grass pitches<br />
everywhere you look in <strong>Qatar</strong>. “I never thought I’d see<br />
such a big change in my lifetime, “says Suleiman. “Sport<br />
in <strong>Qatar</strong> is one hundred times more advanced than it was.<br />
It’s good for the young athletes, but we were lucky, too,<br />
because we had the support of the royal family.”<br />
Support networks<br />
In his role as Assistant Secretary General of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Athletics Federation (QAF) - and as chief commander of<br />
the Military Athletics Section - he remains at the heart of<br />
the sport in <strong>Qatar</strong>, which he first represented aged 15 at<br />
the 1986 Arab Youth Championship.<br />
As enthusiastic about athletics as ever, Suleiman recalls<br />
the support he himself received as a young athlete leading<br />
up to his historic bronze medal finish in Barcelona, as if<br />
it were yesterday.<br />
This came not only from his Czech coach, Stanislav<br />
Strobel, but from HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa<br />
Al-Thani, then the Crown Prince of <strong>Qatar</strong>. “Without his<br />
support I could not have become world class or go on to<br />
win an <strong>Olympic</strong> medal,” says Suleiman. “I have always had<br />
his support and I will never forget it. Our leaders know<br />
about sport and support sport from their hearts - not just<br />
me, but all athletes who have won medals in the Asian<br />
Games and other championships. I remember that eight<br />
months before the <strong>Olympic</strong> Games, the QAF organised<br />
training in Arizona in the United States. Before leaving,<br />
I went to His Highness’s house and he said he believed I<br />
could win an <strong>Olympic</strong> medal.”<br />
Before Barcelona the signs were indeed good for the<br />
young Suleiman. After qualifying for the 1991 World<br />
Championships in Tokyo, where he came ninth, his<br />
coach said that only his inexperience had stopped him<br />
from doing much better. To prove the point, Suleiman<br />
beat both the silver and bronze medallists from Tokyo in a<br />
European Grand Prix event in Rome just two days later.<br />
In the <strong>Olympic</strong> year, he also beat the 1500m world<br />
record holder, Noureddine Morceli from Morocco, twice<br />
and expectations were high in the summer of 1992 that he<br />
could achieve a bronze or better at the Games.<br />
Unforgettable moments<br />
In Barcelona, Suleiman won his heat and in the semi-final<br />
set a new <strong>Olympic</strong> record of 3.34.77. But the final was<br />
a different story. “I’d beaten [the eventual gold medal<br />
winner] Fermin Cacho in the semi final, but the final<br />
was run very slowly and I finished in 3.40.77, six seconds<br />
slower than in the semi-final. I thought I had a silver<br />
medal, but this Moroccan guy [Rachid El Basir] got to<br />
the line before me. I was a little unhappy because I knew I<br />
could have done better, but at the same time I was happy<br />
to win the first <strong>Olympic</strong> medal in the history of <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
and the Gulf. The Crown Prince told me many times that<br />
however many medals we get in the <strong>Olympic</strong>s, ‘you will<br />
always be the first’.<br />
Back in Doha, his reception was ‘fantastic’ and topped off<br />
by a celebration along the Corniche in front of thousands<br />
of supporters chanting his name. “After the medal my life<br />
changed completely,“ says Suleiman. “It was a really great<br />
time. I’ll never forget it and I know my people will never<br />
forget it. If I won ten gold medals I could not repay my<br />
country in how they supported me.”<br />
From a humble Corporal in the <strong>Qatar</strong> Army, Suleiman<br />
30 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
was promoted to Lieutenant - he is now a Major - but<br />
his middle-distance running exploits didn’t end in 1992.<br />
Suleiman won successive Asian Games gold medals in the<br />
1500m in 1990, 1994 and 1998, as well as numerous Arab,<br />
Asian and Army Championship medals.<br />
He retired in 2000 having run in the 5000m final at<br />
the Sydney <strong>Olympic</strong> Games – and now it’s the athletic<br />
exploits of young <strong>Qatar</strong>is and the sporting ambitions of<br />
its leadership that inspire Suleiman.<br />
“It’s not easy to find talented athletes, but there are<br />
many here who have the talent and will be participants for<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> in the next five to six years, ‘ he says. “They all want<br />
to become like me or Talal Mansour [<strong>Qatar</strong>’s 100m flyer]<br />
or Ibrahim Ismail [the former Asian Games 400m recordholder],<br />
athletes who have now retired. The population<br />
here is very small but we also have 10 <strong>Qatar</strong>i guys who will<br />
become world-class in sprints, middle distance, jumping<br />
and throwing and should do well over the next three or<br />
four years.”<br />
Suleiman feels it would be unfair to name the hottest<br />
young athletic prospects, but applauds the QAF President<br />
and IAAF council member Dahlan Al-Hamad, who has<br />
helped to set up the annual Super Grand Prix and attract<br />
the World Indoor Championships to Doha in 2010. This,<br />
he says, has created a growing interest in athletics among<br />
young <strong>Qatar</strong>i athletes.<br />
“The Crown Prince told me many times that<br />
however many medals we get in the <strong>Olympic</strong>s,<br />
‘you will always be the first’.”<br />
Future perfect<br />
But in terms of event hosting, nothing compares to the<br />
15th Asian Games Doha 2006, which yielded two track<br />
gold medals for <strong>Qatar</strong> and added a new experience for<br />
Suleiman, who was one of the six special torchbearers to<br />
do a lap of Khalifa Stadium in front of 50,000 fans at the<br />
dramatic opening ceremony.<br />
Suleiman joined five other legends of <strong>Qatar</strong> sport - the<br />
world champion bowler Salem Bu Sharbak, footballers<br />
Mubarak Mustafa and Mansour Muftah, rally driver<br />
Nasser Al-Attiya and fellow athlete Talal Mansour - who<br />
carried the Flame around the perimeter of the arena,<br />
past the athletes from 45 countries and regions who had<br />
assembled in the centre.<br />
Says Suleiman: “For all of us that day, it felt like we had<br />
won a gold medal at the <strong>Olympic</strong>s!”<br />
After the incredible Opening Ceremony, the 15th Asian<br />
Games more than lived up to his expectations. “I ran at<br />
the Asian Games in Seoul 1986, Beijing 1990, Hiroshima<br />
1994 and in Bangkok 1998 and, believe me, Doha 2006<br />
was something special,” he says.<br />
Of course, for Suleiman, who retired from competitive<br />
athletics in 1999, the chance to add to his five Asian<br />
Games gold medals on home soil came too late.<br />
But Doha’s hosting of the world’s second largest multisports<br />
event after the Summer <strong>Olympic</strong> Games left a<br />
lasting impression on the former athlete.<br />
“We did a great job. We have fantastic facilities and now<br />
all the people in <strong>Qatar</strong> talk about sport - my father, my<br />
grandfather, my brother. It’s excellent.”<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 31
www.globalsportfund.com<br />
Sport—<br />
a universal<br />
language<br />
The Global Sport Fund (GSF)<br />
promotes sports and healthy<br />
lifestyles among young people<br />
around the world. The GSF, an<br />
initiative sponsored by the United<br />
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime<br />
and the <strong>Qatar</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>,<br />
encourages young people to<br />
develop their potential and to keep<br />
away from using drugs.
Arab Swimming Open Championships<br />
Artistic Gymnastics World Cup<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Classic Squash Competition<br />
Asian Indoor Athletics Championships<br />
Super Bowl XLII Arizona, USa 03/02/08<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> International Sailing Championship Doha Bay 03/02/08<br />
Asian Indoor Athletics Championships ASPIRE 10/02/08<br />
Asian Junior (under 10) Football Festival Doha 14/02/08<br />
Nascar, Daytona 500 Daytona, USa 16/02/08<br />
WTA <strong>Qatar</strong> Total Women’s Tennis Open Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex 18/02/08<br />
World Team Table Tennis Championships Guangzhou, China 24/02/08<br />
Artistic Gymnastics World Cup aSPIRE 04/03/08<br />
8th <strong>Qatar</strong> International Equestrian Jumping Championships Equestrian Federation Facilities 06/03/08<br />
Australian Grand Prix Melbourne, Australia 06/03/08<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> MotoGP Losail International Circuit 06/03/08<br />
IAAF World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 07/03/08<br />
International Junior Table Tennis Championships aSPIRE 11/03/08<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> International Junior Squash Championship Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex. 13/03/08<br />
School <strong>Olympic</strong> Day aSPIRE 14/03/08<br />
12th <strong>Qatar</strong> International Table Tennis Championship aSPIRE 18/03/08<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Classic Squash Competition (exact date TBC) Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex 04/08<br />
Arab Swimming Open Championships aquatic Centre, Aspire Zone 04/08<br />
International Best Jockey Championship Equestrian Federation Facilities 04/08<br />
The Grand National Aintree, UK 05/04/08<br />
XVI ANOC General Assembly Beijing,China 06/04/08<br />
Equestrian Global Champions Tour Equestrian Federation Facilities 10/04/08<br />
The Masters (golf) Augusta, USa 10/04/08<br />
Fencing World Cup Beijing, China 18/04/08<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong> Athletics Super Grand Prix (exact date TBC) <strong>Qatar</strong> Sports Club 09/05/08<br />
SportAccord Athens, Greece 02/06/08<br />
Wrestling Youth Asian Championships aSPIRE 04/07/08<br />
Events diary - International and <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 33
WHY UNIVERSALISATION IS the key to<br />
the future<br />
Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF, athletics’ world governing body, looks<br />
ahead to the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha and considers some<br />
of the major issues facing the sport he loves.<br />
Above: Lamine Diack –<br />
eight years at the helm<br />
of the IAAF.<br />
The world’s leading track and field athletes will<br />
head for Doha in 2010 to compete in the IAAF World<br />
Indoor Championships, one of the most prestigious events<br />
on the international sports calendar.<br />
The event will be held in the award-winning Aspire<br />
complex, which will provide the perfect stage for athletes<br />
aiming to deliver the ultimate performance after months<br />
of training geared towards the quest for Gold.<br />
For the International Association of Athletics<br />
Federations (IAAF), the world governing body of Track<br />
and Field, the decision to award the World Indoor<br />
Championships to <strong>Qatar</strong> is recognition of the country’s<br />
established relationship with international athletics and a<br />
vote of confidence in its ability to deliver a world-class event.<br />
And for Lamine Diack, the Senegal-born president of the<br />
IAAF, the choice of <strong>Qatar</strong> has even greater significance.<br />
Now in the early months of his second term in office,<br />
Diack is a firm believer that the future of Athletics lies<br />
in taking athletics to new countries and engaging youth<br />
and that the Middle East and Asia are hugely important<br />
marketplaces.<br />
The ‘white-haired man from Senegal’ - as he describes<br />
himself - is a former French long-jump champion and a<br />
passionate lover of football. As a player he was a quality<br />
midfielder before injury ended his football career but as a<br />
coach he took the Senegal team to the brink of World Cup<br />
qualification long before the nation’s leading players had<br />
made an impact on the world stage.<br />
34 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08
the big interview<br />
Above: Lamine Diack sees exciting times ahead for athletics in the Middle East.<br />
He has been running the Monaco-based IAAF for eight<br />
years, taking the job as a stop-gap after the death of the<br />
Italian Primo Nebiollo and subsequently winning two<br />
elected terms. Now, in the early months of his second and<br />
final stint in the hot seat, he has a clear mission to handover<br />
a sport which has led a successful fight against doping,<br />
built a compelling and sustainable commercial structure<br />
and ensured its future by engaging kids around the world.<br />
Universal sport<br />
“One of my main priorities as IAAF President, in my final<br />
four-year mandate, is to work hard for what I call the<br />
“universalisation” of our sport,” Diack told <strong>Qatar</strong> Sport.<br />
“Already, with 212 Member Federations, the IAAF<br />
represents one of the few sports that can gather the<br />
whole world at a sporting event. But now, I want the<br />
championships also to be spread all over the world. It<br />
is really important for the worldwide development of<br />
athletics that developing, ambitious countries have the<br />
chance to organise top competitions in athletics and I<br />
believe that the Middle East, particularly the Gulf region,<br />
has tremendous potential.”<br />
The president is certainly confident that <strong>Qatar</strong> has the<br />
facilities, infrastructure and event management skills to<br />
ensure the success of the World Indoor Championships.<br />
“I am sure that they will do an excellent job organising<br />
this competition. The facilities are superb and there is a lot<br />
of enthusiasm and good will amongst the hosts,” he said.<br />
“The main advantage of <strong>Qatar</strong> is that they have proved<br />
to be a ‘friend’ of athletics for many years now. I still recall<br />
“The main advantage of <strong>Qatar</strong> is that they<br />
have proved to be a ‘friend’ of athletics<br />
for many years now. I still recall when the<br />
Emir personally informed me that he had<br />
a real love for our sport and was anxious<br />
to help it develop in his country.”<br />
when the Emir personally informed me that he had a real<br />
love for our sport and was anxious to help it develop in his<br />
country. Originally, he organised a Grand Prix meeting<br />
only for men, then, in 1998, the Grand Prix competition<br />
was open to women as well, which proved to be a great<br />
success. This meeting is now one of the fastest growing<br />
on the international circuit. Doha also hosted the IAAF<br />
Grand Prix Final in 2000, just after the Sydney Games<br />
and, since then, the country has gone from strength to<br />
strength, not only in terms of a booming economy, but in<br />
its efforts to attract sport.”<br />
Growth potential<br />
Like many other leaders of world sport, Lamine Diack<br />
was clearly impressed by the way the Track and Field<br />
programme at the 2006 Asian Games operated.<br />
“All of us who were in Doha for those Games were<br />
extremely impressed by the organisational efforts and it is<br />
clear that track and field will always be at the heart of any<br />
major Games, whether at an <strong>Olympic</strong> or an Area level,”<br />
he said. “This is something that we don’t take for granted<br />
Q1.08 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport 35
the big interview<br />
Lamine Diack – continued from previous page.<br />
though, which is why we work hard on our development<br />
activities to make sure that track and field develops<br />
real roots and becomes a genuine part of the culture,<br />
particularly in schools and amongst the youth. We are very<br />
happy that <strong>Qatar</strong> has adopted the IAAF’s Kids Athletics<br />
programme – which is intended to allow youngsters to<br />
practice the basics of athletics – in a way that is appealing<br />
and fun”.<br />
His focus on the role of sport in general - and<br />
athletics in particular - in helping develop and provide<br />
opportunities for youngsters, mirrors that of the <strong>Qatar</strong><br />
<strong>Olympic</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> itself and is based to a large extent<br />
on personal experience.<br />
“The key to everything is making the sport universal<br />
and getting youth involved and we aim to play our part<br />
to the full. This is a very important time for the world in<br />
terms of health issues such as obesity and heart disease.<br />
Because of its very simplicity, athletics has a role to play in<br />
encouraging people to become more active and healthier<br />
and we will work with governments and other groups to<br />
achieve this.”<br />
“We are very keen to promote the Middle<br />
East – where there is massive growth<br />
potential in business terms, participation<br />
levels and fan bases. You can already see<br />
athletics pushing hard in this region.”<br />
“There is no doubt that while the IAAF needs to be diligent<br />
about ensuring stability in ‘old markets’ for athletics such<br />
as Europe, the exciting developments will come in areas<br />
of the world where there is economic strength and where<br />
our sport is not yet mature. This is why the IAAF is very<br />
keen to promote the Middle East - where there is massive<br />
growth potential not only in business terms but in terms<br />
of participation levels and fan bases. You can already see<br />
other sports like F1, golf, tennis and rugby pushing hard<br />
in this region and athletics is no exception”.<br />
Personal development<br />
Diack is passionate about athletics because of what the<br />
sport has given him and what he sees it doing for others.<br />
“In my younger days at school we did basic athletics<br />
- middle distance running, jumping and rope climbing.<br />
When I was 12 or so I wanted to be the best in my class, I<br />
wanted the class to be the best in the school and I wanted<br />
the school to be the best in the area in every sporting<br />
activity we were involved in. In this way athletics helped<br />
my self-knowledge and personal development and gave<br />
me and my schoolmates the opportunity to test ourselves.<br />
Importantly, the disciplines learned and strengths built<br />
for athletics prepared us to learn and develop the more<br />
specific skills you need for others sports such as football,”<br />
he said. Today, however, the relationship between sport<br />
and childhood has changed significantly in many parts<br />
of the world and this, says Diack, is cause for the gravest<br />
concern.<br />
“Athletics helped me to develop and I am concerned that<br />
children today are not getting the opportunities which I<br />
enjoyed,” he said.<br />
“Today when children do sport it tends to be only<br />
football rather than athletics plus football which is the<br />
ideal combination. That’s why we are putting so much<br />
effort into developing opportunities for youngsters to<br />
participate in athletics because, unfortunately, they are not<br />
always able to do it at school.”<br />
Sporting heroes<br />
He is also aware of the role of sporting heroes in encouraging<br />
participation. His own boyhood hero - perhaps surprisingly<br />
for somebody growing up in French-speaking Senegal<br />
- was the English footballer Stanley Matthews, a winger<br />
who inspired a generation of youngsters, not only through<br />
his skill, but his attitude to sport and life in general.<br />
Diack refuses to subscribe to the cynical view that there<br />
are few heroes in athletics today.<br />
“There are stars in every generation,” he says. “The<br />
important thing is to provide them with the opportunities<br />
to appear as role-models.”<br />
If you look in the right places, athletics is packed-full of<br />
inspirational athletes and their inspirational stories. Why<br />
does Heile Gabriesellase, the Ethiopian distance runner,<br />
crook his arm when running? It’s the legacy of carrying his<br />
school books under his arm on the 10 kilometre, barefoot<br />
run to and from his village to school as a youngster.<br />
And what about Paula Radcliffe, the British runner<br />
whose resilience and determination saw her recover from<br />
the massive disappointments of the Athens <strong>Olympic</strong><br />
Games to triumph in this year’s New York marathon, after<br />
becoming a mother for the first time.<br />
IAAF World Indoor Championships<br />
Discipline by discipline, country by country, there<br />
are many more stories to tell. These are the tales of<br />
achievement against adversity, of obstacles overcome and<br />
of determination rewarded which tell what Diack sees as<br />
the real story of athletics.<br />
For Diack and the IAAF, the 2010 World Indoor<br />
Championships in Doha will mark the beginning of a<br />
new chapter in that story and create new heroes for a new<br />
generation. The Championships will be played out in a<br />
nation where sport is central to government policy and<br />
where the focus on youth participation is seen by many<br />
outsiders as a model for the rest of the world.<br />
So how does world athletics’ leader sum up the potential<br />
for sport in <strong>Qatar</strong>?<br />
“Well, the IAAF World Indoor Championships will<br />
take place in a venue that was built for the Asian Games<br />
and I believe that the facilities are such that virtually every<br />
major sport in the world could host a top event in <strong>Qatar</strong>,”<br />
he said.<br />
“That is a tribute to the intelligent leadership of the<br />
<strong>Qatar</strong>i authorities since, by hosting international sport, a<br />
country is able to promote its image in a very positive way<br />
and also contribute to better understanding and tolerance<br />
between nations and cultures. My message today is to keep<br />
up the good work and I look forward to my next visit!”<br />
36 <strong>Qatar</strong>Sport Q1.08