NEWS - Qatar Olympic Committee

NEWS
IN BRIEF
Qatari telecoms company
Qtel has signed a fiveyear
deal to became the
Exclusive Telecommunications
Partner for the Qatar Stars League
(QSL). The agreement will see Qtel
provide communication and financial
support for the QSL. Qtel is also set to
support His Highness The Emir Cup;
His Highness The Heir Apparent Cup;
and The Sheikh Jassim Cup - Qatar’s
three official cup tournaments. Qtel
is already a sponsor of the AFC Asian
Cup tournament, to be held in Qatar in
2011 and the AFC Champions League
for 2009-2012.
The Qatar Equestrian
Federation hosted the first
Emir Cup Show Jumping
Championship at the Qatar Racing
& Equestrian Club on March 16 and
17. HE Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al-Thani,
riding Brigad, was crowned winner of
the inaugural cup.
Financial rewards will be
given to the winners of the
12th Pan Arab Games, to
be hosted by Qatar in 2011. “We will
allocate US$5000 for the winner, while
the runner-up gets US$2000 and
the third-place winner will receive
US$1000,” said QOC Secretary General,
Sheikh Saoud.
The board of the Asian
Handball Federation in
Kuwait has approved
a proposal submitted by the
Qatar Handball Federation, which
would allow the organisation of a
continental Asian event to take place
one year before the international
championships.
Qatari distance runners took
all three medal positions
in the 12km senior men’s
race at the 10th Asian Cross Country
Championship in Manama, Bahrain
in March. Ahmed Hassan Abdullah,
Essa Ismail Rashed and Felix Kikwai
Kibore won gold, silver and bronze
respectively. 147 Asian runners took
part in the championship. The race
also saw the comeback of Qatar’s
track star, Saif Saeed Shaheen.
QATAR LAUNCHES
ASIAN CUP LOGO
Qatar’s preparations for hosting the AFC
Asian Cup 2011 passed a bright new milestone
with the unveiling of the tournament’s official
logo at the Diplomatic Club in Doha.
“The AFC Asian Cup is Asia’s biggest
football event and in less than two years it
comes to these shores,” said General Farouk
Bouzo, a member of the AFC Executive
Committee, at the launch ceremony.
Qatari athletes, especially Qatari youth,
are gearing up for three major multi-sports
events this year as the QOC looks to build
on its medal-winning success at the major
international showcases.
This year, the QOC will send multi-sports
teams to the 2nd Islamic Solidarity Games in
Tehran, Iran (October 15-30), the 3rd Asian
Indoor Games in Hanoi, Vietnam (October
30 - November 8) and the 2009 Doha
Gymnasiade (December 4-13).
In Tehran for the 2nd Islamic Solidarity
Games, athletes will compete in 22 events,
including 17 Olympic events and three
Paralympic events, while in Hanoi, 20 sports
will be played at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games,
including ‘E-Sports’ - more commonly known
as computer games.
At the end of the year, the 2009 Doha
Gymnasiade will see some 3,000 international
students between the ages of 15 and 18 come
to Qatar to compete in aquatics (swimming
and diving), athletics and gymnastics for the
biggest event on the International School Sport
Federation’s calendar.
Highlighting Qatar’s sporting commitment
“The AFC Asian Cup is the time to place
Qatar at the epicentre of the football world.”
According to the AFC, the new emblem
uses Qatar’s national symbol, the Oryx,
in a crossing, duelling stance, depicting
competition, while the hexagonal panels reflect
the shape of a football.
The Asian theme is completed with the
sphere’s representation as a rising sun in the
east and Qatar’s national colour, maroon, in the
west. In another variation of the logo, the host
nation’s heritage and pride is represented by the
maroon Qatar ‘wordmark’.
The qualifying rounds for Asian football’s
showcase tournament got underway in January
this year with 10 AFC Asian Cup spots up for
grabs under a new qualification system set up
by the AFC.
The successful nations from the qualifying
rounds will join six teams which qualify
automatically: the host nation Qatar; the top
three finishers in the 2007 tournament(Iraq,
Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic); the winner
of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup (India); and
the winner of the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup
(to be determined).
INVEST IN YOUTH, SAYS QOC
to youth, QOC President, His Highness
Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, said that
all federations should concentrate on the next
generation of athletes, as well as grassroots
sport, over the Olympic cycle from 2008-2012.
The QOC President stressed to the
federations the importance of coordinating
with the Ministry of Education and supporting
the Schools Olympic Day programme (see
pages 20-21).
The Global Sport Fund and the associated
training camps for youth, held in collaboration
with the United Nations, will also be at the
forefront of QOC activities over the current
Olympic cycle, he said (see pages 14-16).
Other initiatives outlined by the QOC
include the creation of an Anti-Doping
Laboratory in conjunction with Aspetar,
Qatar's Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine
Hospital, scheduled for completion by the
end of 2012. An Olympic Sports Museum,
in cooperation with the Olympic Museum in
Lausanne, Switzerland, is also expected to open
that year. Designed by the architects of the
Barcelona Olympic Museum, it will be located
at Khalifa Stadium in the Aspire Zone.
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