Issue 14 - Qatar Olympic Committee

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UNITED IN SPORT With the 12th Arab Games just five months away, the Local Organising Committee has fine-tuned its hosting plans… and launched the Arab Games Mascot. From left to right: Muataz Issa Barsham (Qatar), Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bahrain), Rony Fahed (Lebanon) and the Egypt soccer team. It will be the biggest Arab Games in history and Qatar is determined that it will be the best. In June, the Chefs de Mission of the participating Arab delegations arrived in Doha for a four-day meeting to familarise themselves with the Games venues, Athletes Village and event programme. They left in no doubt that Qatar is more than ready to host the 12th edition of the Games, which will focus the attention of sports fans across the Arab speaking world for two-weeks in December (9-23). Rescheduled from November because of a clash with international competition elsewhere in the world, the quadrennial multi-sport event is expected to attract a record 8,000 athletes from 22 countries to Qatar’s shores. As the Arab Games Organising 16 QatarSport ISSUE 14 Committee (AGOC) chief Sheikh Saoud said earlier this year, all the countries in the Arab-speaking world countries are keen to participate in the Games – and since the start of the year, AGOC has signed a series of agreements to ensure that this year’s version is remembered as a “landmark” in the event’s 58-year history. At the start of the year, AGOC signed a TV broadcasting contract with the Doha-based Al-Jazeera Sports Channel, which will guarantee coverage in high definition, with nine sports being televised live - athletics, swimming, basketball, handball, football, artistic gymnastics, volleyball, beach volleyball, and equestrian jumping - as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The organisers and Al-Jazeera are also working to broadcast the event live via the Internet to maximise its reach across the Middle East, North Africa and the world. In terms of media services, the Cyprus-based Laurel International Management have been engaged to handle communications, media and broadcast operations - a crucial part of the event management plan, according to the event’s Director of Media and Broadcast, Abdulla Yousef Al-Mulla, “We are planning for the best services for media because they are our mirror,” he said. “The media are important because they go back to their countries and talk about Doha. And especially now that we are preparing for [the FIFA World Cup in] 2022, we are going to prove the type of event that can be hosted in Doha.” From his vantage point at the interface with the event’s media stakeholders,
o o o o o o o o o the 4th arab games Al-Mulla explains that other Arab countries wanted Qatar to host the Games to help “turn them around”. “It will be a landmark in the history of the Arab Games,” he says. “When Qatar turned around the Asian Games [in 2006] it was a landmark, and even China had to work hard to reach the same level [in Guangzhou in 2010]. We want to do the same with the Arab Games.” The legacy of the highly successful 2006 Asian Games will be on display in the form of the 20 competition venues, including the Aspire Zone, most of which were built or upgraded for the Asian showcase. These world-class venues will stage the action across 39 sports disciplines, including the Paralympics sports of athletics, table tennis and power-lifting. These facilities will be augmented by a new Athletes Village springing up in the Doha suburb of Al Wakra to house the athletes and team officials during the competition. The Organizing Committee struck a “Diamond Category” sponsorship deal with Ezdan Real Estate to build the village, which will be set within a compound of close to 2,000 units. The guests will stay in villas or three bedroom and two bedroom apartments within a vibrant complex that includes a gymnasium, swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts, offices, mosques, meeting rooms, polyclinic, and NOC service centre, in addition to the sports information centre. Nothing has been left to chance and the goal, says Sheikh Saoud, is clear: “To raise the bar high and spotlight the region as a whole to the sports world and beyond.” In late September, around 1,000 athletes will get chance to sample the AV when the Arab Games Test event comes to Doha in October. By then, other services will be up and running, such as a Games-themed mobile phone service linked to Diamond sponsor, Qtel, which is building on its long- standing relationship with the QOC. Nothing has been left to chance and the goal, says Sheikh Saoud, is clear: “To raise the bar high and spotlight the region as a whole to the sports world and beyond.” Year Host City Host Country Events 1953 Alexandria Egypt 21 1957 Beirut Lebanon 21 1961 Casablanca Morocco 24 1965 Cairo Egypt 24 1976 Damascus Syria 22 1985 Rabat Morocco 39 1992 Damascus Syria 41 1997 Beirut Lebanon 41 1999 Amman Jordan 45 2004 Algiers Algeria 45 2007 Cairo Egypt 46 2011 Doha Qatar TBA Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total Egypt 504 319 162 985 Morocco 222 181 186 589 Syria 213 216 263 692 Algeria 192 215 219 624 Tunisia 162 150 201 513 Lebanon 68 116 158 342 Iraq 63 85 114 262 Jordan 53 93 146 292 Saudi Arabia 46 76 87 209 Qatar 34 26 49 64 ISSUE 14 QatarSport 17
Page 1: Issue 14 July 2011 $10 The official
Page 4 and 5: Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Sec
Page 6 and 7: NEWS IN BRIEF Qatar plans to comple
Page 8 and 9: NEWS IN BRIEF Qatar Stars League cl
Page 10 and 11: NEWS IN BRIEF Qatar Army played a s
Page 12 and 13: o o o o o o o o o 9TH WCSE doha 201
Page 14 and 15: THE IOC SPORT AND ENVIRONMENT AWARD
Page 18 and 19: MASCOT FOR A MODERN ARAB GAMES THe
Page 20 and 21: KNOCKING ON FAME’S DOOR Home-grow
Page 22 and 23: From left to right: Muammar Issa Ba
Page 24 and 25: ASPIRING TO SUCCESS The graduates o
Page 26 and 27: HE Sheikh Mohamed Bin Hamad Al-Than
Page 28 and 29: Giles Morgan Group Head of Sponsors
Page 30 and 31: World sports rankings the best of t
Page 32 and 33: KEEPING SCHOOL SPORT ON TRACK In th
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Issue 14 - Qatar Olympic Committee

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