Qatar sport COVERMG.indd - Qatar Olympic Committee

UPDATE
INBRIEF
TREnTIno TARgETs FoUR
The draw for the FIVB Club World
Championships 2012 was completed
in the host city Doha in September
with the defending three-time men’s
champions Trentino PlanetWin365
(Italy) drawn in Pool A against
Al-Rayyan (Qatar), Tiger N. Leon
(Mexcio) and Sada Cruzeiro (Brazil).
Pool B will see Zenit Kazan (Russia),
PGE Skra Belchatow (Poalnd), Al-
Arabi (Qatar) and Zamalek (Egypt)
compete for two semi-final berths.
In the women’s event, the title-holders
Rabita Baku (Azebaijan) will play Bohai
Bank W. (China) and Sollys/Nestlé
(Brazil) in Pool C.
Fenerbahce Universal (Turkey), Kenya
Prisons (Kenya) and Lancheras de C.
(Puerto Rico) will compete in Pool D.
The tournaments will be held from
October 8-14 at the world famous
Aspire Dome.
DohA’s In ThE sADDlE
The Union Cycliste Internationale
(UCI) has chosen Qatar to host
the 2016 World Road Cycling
Championships. The announcement
came on the final day of the UCI’s
World Congress Session in Holland,
September 15-23. The UCI awarded
four editions of the Championships at
one sitting: Florence, Italy will host the
event in 2013, followed by the Spanish
city of Ponferrada in 2014. The
American city of Richmond will host
the 2015 Championships with Doha in
the saddle for 2016. Qatar will be the
first country from the Middle East to
host such an important cycling event.
The 2016 Championships joins a
portfolio of major events to be
hosted in Qatar, including the 2022
FIFA World Cup, the 2015 World
Handball Championships and the 2014
FINA World Short Course (25m)
Swimming Championships.
YoUTh RETAIns CRoWn
The Qatar’s youth handball team
have retained their Asian Men’s Youth
Handball crown, after beating Japan 28-
24 in the final match held in Manama,
Bahrain, September 15.
BAYT QATAR - MORE THAN A HOUSE
QATAR SET UP A HOME FROM HOME IN THE HEART OF LONDON
DURING THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Bayt Qatar, the official residence of the
Qatar Olympic Committee [QOC] during
the London 2012 Olympic Games, was not
just a place to escape the hustle and bustle
of London in Games-mode.
Bayt means more than a house, it
represents hospitality at the heart of the
family and Bayt Qatar was a place to relax,
meet with friends, colleagues and enjoy
Arabic style cuisine.
Sited at Savoy Place near London’s River
Thames, Bayt Qatar also provided a unique
showcase for Qatar’s sporting progress
and ambitions, highlighting the work of a
selection of Qatari organisations linked
to the Aspire Zone Foundation, which
represent Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
Along with the presentation of Doha
GOALS (see pages 10-11), ASPIRE4SPORT,
the Middle East’s leading annual sport
business congress and exhibition, invited
media to preview the third edition of the
Sports and Business Congress which will
take place in Qatar’s world-class Aspire
Dome from November 12-15 this years
ASPIRE4SPORT Vice President and
Executive Director Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud
revealed that both Liverpool FC and Paris
Saint-Germain youth academies would
host a series of football clinics at the event,
which will also feature the former world
heavyweight boxing champion, Lennox Lewis.
Mr Al-Mahmoud further revealed how
much economic activity Qatar’s hosting of
the 2022 FIFA World Cup will generate.
“Over the next 10 years a staggering
$160 billion is slated to be spent on
development projects in anticipation of the
FIFA World Cup in 2022,” he said.
Three days later, the Aspetar Orthopedic
and Sports Medicine Hospital, in tandem
with Sporthealth, presented a discussion
on the relationship between fasting
and sports, specifying the latest medical
recommendations to fasting athletes.
Among the panel of international experts,
Dr. Khalifa Al Kuwari, CEO of Aspetar,
outlined Aspetar’s experience with athletes
competing in high temperatures, concluding
that heat stress is not directly correlated to
environmental conditions.
In the final week of the Games, the
Doha-based International Centre for Sport
Security (ICSS) invited the media to discuss
the fight against corruption in sport and new
global integrity initiatives.
The prestigious speakers were
Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS,
Lord John Stevens, Chairman of the ICSS
Advisory Board and former Chief Constable
of the Metropolitan Police, and Chris Eaton,
Director of Sport Integrity of the ICSS.
Bayt Qatar attracted up to 500 visitors
per day during the Games, many of whom
were there to enjoy the unique selection of
cultural events.
These included the latest collection from
Qatari fashion leader Toujouri, a selection of
new Arab films, and some classic, sportsthemed
films, such as “Cool Runnings” and
appropriately enough given the London
location, “Bend it Like Beckham”.
12 | Issue 19 | Qatar Sport