WHEN Qatari athletes take to the field at the 2030 Asian Games in Doha, the hosts of the world’s second largest multi-discipline sports show after the Olympic Games will be aiming for their best medals haul. With seven years to go before Doha hosts the Asian Games for the second time, the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) has detailed its plans on how it aims to tap young talent and convert their energetic skills into sporting excellence.
In the presence of the QOC President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, the QOC unveiled its 2023-2030 strategy during a ceremony held at Marsa Malaz Kempinski Hotel. The strategy aims to achieve three main objectives: ensuring sports excellence, promoting Olympic Movement and achieving comprehensive sports development across the country.
The QOC President was joined by QOC First Vice-President Mohamed Yousef Al-Mana, QOC Second Vice-President Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman Al-Kuwari, QOC Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buanain, and a number of heads of clubs, federations, and sports committees in the State of Qatar attended the glittering ceremony. During the ceremony, QOC honoured the graduates of various training courses and programs and a group of distinguished retired employees.
The new strategy comes right after Qatar’s greatest show at an Olympic Games – the Tokyo 2020 Games where they managed to bag three medals – two gold in athletics (Mutaz Essa Barshim) and weightlifting (Fares Ibrahim), and a bronze in the beach volleyball competition (Sherif Younes and Ahmed Tijan). Last year, global track and field superstar Barshim won the gold at 2022 World Athletics Championships becoming the first athlete to win the gold in High Jump at three consecutive IAAF Worlds. Barshim’s gold journey was backed by Qatari weightlifter Fares who bagged two medals – a gold, and a silver – at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships.
QOC said to achieve these objectives, it is keen to continue promoting the Olympic Movement by encouraging all segments of society to participate in sporting events, and adopt healthy lifestyles, extending to include building and developing elite teams of Qatari male and female players to ensure excellence in all sports, including training, management and other technical aspects.
At the top of QOC’s priorities is the preparations of national teams, especially at the age groups level. This strategy aims to build a strategic framework and develop systematic implementation plans to develop the performance of athletes, provide for their educational and professional needs. In addition to this, the QOC has pledged to measure, monitor and evaluate their performances to ensure the achievement of interim and main goals.The commercial aspect of sports is also adequately covered in the new strategy. Through hosting major sports tournaments, the QOC also seeks to further promote sports tourism in the country (as it has done in the past), support the national economy, and invest in the sporting legacy left by the major tournaments hosted in Qatar recently.
QOC pays great attention to the development of women’s sports in the State of Qatar. It ensures equal opportunities for both genders to practice sports and participate in major tournaments. Over the past many years, these efforts have resulted to raise Qatari women’s participation and performance in various sports which ensured their participation in the last three editions of the Olympic Games – London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, and Tokyo 2020.
Since its establishment on March 14, 1979, the QOC has played a major role in spreading sports awareness in the country, sponsoring and developing the Olympic culture in accordance with the Olympic Charter, and supporting and developing sports performance, which contributed to the great boom in Qatari sports during the past 44 years and many unprecedented achievements at various levels.
In his remarks at the ceremony, the QOC Secretary-General HE Jassim Rashid Al-Buainain said the time is ripe for Qatar to compliment the past successes with more glory in the years to come. Al-Buainain said QOC had stacked up a long history of sporting glory in the last four decades, on home soil and at international sports events.
“This year marks the beginning of a new era in our sports journey, and we now begin a new phase of success after we successfully completed the previous phase of our strategy, in which the Qatar Olympic Committee, with the efforts and cooperation of sports federations and committees, was proudly able to achieve the goals set in the previous strategy,” Al-Buainain said.
“In the past, these efforts were crowned with the great achievements of Team Qatar athletes in continental and international events, the latest of which was the remarkable results obtained in the Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020 – where Qatar won the first Olympic gold medals in its history through weightlifter Faris Ibrahim and high jump star Mutaz Essa Barshim. In addition to this, we also succeeded in winning a bronze medal in beach volleyball through our athletes Sherif Younes and Ahmed Tijan,” he added.
“These sporting achievements and previous ones were made thanks to the great support of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the directives and keen attention of H E the President of QOC Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, which had great impact on the prominent role played by the QOC in organising many major sporting events in the State of Qatar,” he said.
“Today, we are moving forward with announcing the strategy of the Qatar Olympic Committee 2023-2030, which is considered an incubator for sports and aims to achieve three main results, which are: ensuring sports excellence, promoting Olympic values, and achieving sports development,” Al-Buainain said.
He explained that in the new strategy, QOC seeks to prepare the sports teams and equip them to participate in the Doha 2030 Asian Games.
“In addition to this, we also aim to execute our plans that include delivering progress to possibly hosting the Olympic Games in the future. We are proud to be hosting the World Judo Championships 2023 this year and the 21st FINA World Championsips in 2024 before we switch our attention to staging the Asian Games in 2030,” he explained.
Concluding his remarks, Al-Buainain extended thanks to all the members and staff of QOC for their efforts in providing the necessary support to all sports federations and committees in order to achieve the best results in times to come.
In recent years, Qatari sports successes have not been limited to athletes winning medals only as sports figures have held high positions in various international institutions.
- The President of QOC HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani was elected as the First Vice-President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), during the 26th General Assembly of the Association in October 2022.
- In addition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has selected HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, HE Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation (QF) Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani and QOC’s Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buanain as members of several affiliated committees.
- HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani was appointed as a member at the IOC’s Olympism 365, HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani as a member at the IOC’s Olympic Education Commission and Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buanain as a member at the IOC’s Olympic Program Commission.
- The QOC hosted a camp for the refugee Olympic team that participated in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 from July 23 to Aug 8, 2021.
- The QOC also hosted a number of meetings between the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia, and a dialogue meeting between the IOC and the Afghan representatives of the National Olympic Committee and the General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports.
- ** In recognition of its recent successes, the QOC won the National Olympic Committees’ (NOC) Breakthrough Award by the Association of National Olympic Committees on the sidelines of the ANOC General Assembly in Greece in 2021.
