FINA to hold General Congress Meeting in Doha on Saturday

DOHA – The International Swimming Federation (FINA) will hold its 2021 General Congress meeting in Doha, Qatar on Saturday, with 189 delegates from 119 national federations appearing in person in Doha, Qatar for the event.  An additional 202 delegates from 102 national federations will attend the meet online, with some federations attending both in-person and online. Firstly on the agenda of the congress will be the report of the FINA Bureau on its activities during the previous General Congress (2019) presented by the FINA President. Then will follow the financial report of the FINA Honorary Treasurer and the reports of the FINA Audit Committee and FINA External Auditor. The FINA member delegations are expected to elect  the only named candidate, Kuwait’s Hussain Al-Musallam, as it new president, to be successor to Dr. Julio C. Maglione of Uruguay.  The event will be held  in conformity with the  precautionary measures accredited  by the Qatar’s  Ministry of Public Health to prevent  the spread of COVID-19.  

Team Qatar clinch Gold and Silver in Arab Championship

DOHA - The Qatar shooting team opened its campaign in the 2021 Arab Shooting Championship  with an impressive performance to win the gold and silver medals in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. Team Qatar shooter, Reem Al-Sharshani shone to clinch the gold medal in  the women skeet event, as her teammate, Rashid Saleh Al Ezbah grabbed the silver medal in the Men skeet event. Top Qatari shooters, including Naser  Al Attiyiah, Saieed Abo Shareb, Ali Ishag, Hassan Al Mane, Rashid Saleh Al Ezbah, Masoud Saleh Al Ezbah and  Mohammed Al Kowari are competing  for top honors in this championship. More than 300 shooters (Men and Women) , representing 12 Arab teams are competing in this championship.  

Hubs established in Qatar and Rwanda for final vaccination opportunity for Olympic and Paralympic Games participants

Doha- The IOC, together with the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and government authorities of Qatar and Rwanda, has established two further pre-Games vaccination opportunities for Olympic and Paralympic Games participants.   These two vaccination hubs allow Games participants who will be unable to be vaccinated in their home countries in advance of travelling to Japan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 to get inoculated. The two hubs will both offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in line with the IOC announcement on 6 May 2021 of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to donate doses of the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine to Games participants from National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world. The IOC is in contact with a few NOCs whose athletes are not yet able to access vaccination programmes and who would therefore be eligible to travel to either the hub in Doha (Qatar) or Kigali (Rwanda). They have been set up respectively by the Qatar Olympic Committee and the Rwanda Olympic Committee in relation with the relevant government and medical authorities in their regions and with Pfizer’s support. Concerned NOCs can apply for travel support from Olympic Solidarity should they need it. On this important development, IOC NOC Relations and Olympic Solidarity Director James Macleod said: “We cannot thank enough the two NOCs, their national governments and Pfizer for their generosity and great show of willingness and support. The progress in preparation of work on the ground has been outstanding, and these additional vaccination opportunities are enabling the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to be safe and secure not only for the participants, but also for the Japanese people.” H.E. Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said: “We are delighted to be a part of this excellent initiative and to contribute to safe Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. We are grateful to our colleagues in Japan and the IOC for their tremendous efforts in ensuring the Games can go ahead safely. We all have a responsibility to repay this hard work by doing everything we can to protect the health of the Japanese people and all Games participants.” The Doha vaccination hub comes in addition to the Qatar Olympic Committee’s confirmation that it will also host the Refugee Olympic Team in early July in a training camp in Doha prior to the team travelling to Tokyo. Meanwhile, IOC Member in Rwanda Felicite Rwemarika explained the rationale behind the decision to create a hub in Rwanda: “We were also driven to join this initiative in solidarity with our friends at the Japan Olympic Committee, who have constantly supported our NOC by generously hosting training camps for our athletes.” This is yet another example of the spirit of solidarity that has been witnessed between NOCs, and one that the IOC is supporting in every possible way. From the outset, the IOC has underlined the importance of solidarity in the fight against the virus, and to see this become a reality is testament to the commitment of Olympic Movement stakeholders to making the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 safe and secure for all involved. Currently as many as 75 per cent of the residents of the Olympic Village are already vaccinated or have secured vaccination; and there is good reason to believe that this figure will be well over 80 per cent at the time of the Games.  

Qatar to face India in Asian Cup qualifiers on Thursday

DOHA - The Qatari national football team will lock horns against  India on Thursday at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Sadd Club, as part of the Group E matches of the joint Asian qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup in China.   The joint qualifiers are held in Doha from June 3 to 15, with the participation of Qatar, Oman, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Qatar's coach Felix Sanchez had announced the squad for the matches against India and Oman: Saad Al Sheeb, Mishaal Barshim, Pedro Miguel, Salem Al Hajri, Tariq Salman, Abdul Karim Hassan, Boualem Khoukhi, Hassan Al Haidos, Akram Afif, Youssef Abdul Razzaq, Ahmed Suhail, Musab Khader, Muhammad Waad, Salah Zakaria, Bassam Al Rawi, Assem Madbo, Al Moez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, Ismail Mohamed, Mohamed Muntari, Abdullah Abdel Salam, Sultan Al Buraik, Ahmed Alaa Al Din, Hammam Al Amin, Mahmoud Abu Nada, Abdelaziz Hatem, Khaled Mounir, Abdullah Marafie, Abdel Rachid Omaro, Hashem Ali, Mohamed Ayyash and goalkeeper Youssef Hassan. The Qatari team started its qualifying campaign with a 6-0 victory over Afghanistan and a 0-0 draw with India in the second round, then achieved four consecutive victories against Bangladesh 2-0, Oman 2-1, Afghanistan 1-0 and Bangladesh 5-0. The team will face India on June 3, then Oman on June 7.   

Qatar Officially Joins the International Padel Federation

DOHA- The State of Qatar, represented by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation (QTSBF), has officially joined the International Padel Federation (FIP), during its last general assembly meeting held in the Italian capital, Rome. This accession entitles the State of Qatar to host international padel tournaments and participate in other tournaments under the umbrella of the International Padel Federation. The step comes as the State of Qatar won the bid to host the Padel World Championship for the first time in the Middle East. The championship will take place in Doha from November 15 to 20, 2021. Last year, Qatar Olympic Committee agreed to create a Padel Committee to be affiliated with the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation. Commenting on the occasion, Secretary-General of the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation Tariq Zainal expressed happiness that the International Padel Federation voted for Qatar to join the federation, especially that the game has become very popular among Qatari players. He added that this accession reflects the international confidence in the State of Qatar's ability to host major sporting events within the highest regulatory standards, even after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic where the State showed flexibility in creating new solutions that preserve the health and safety of athletes and all participants. He noted that the federation continues to implement its plans related to hosting the World Padel Championship in November, stressing the keenness to present the best possible image that reflects Qatar's great organizational capabilities. 

Team Qatar shooters to participate in Arab Championship

DOHA - The Qatar shooting team  will begin its   campaign Wednesday in the Arab Shooting Championship which will be held from  June 2-12, in Egypt. Top Qatari shooters, including Naser  Al Attiyiah, Saieed Abo Shareb, Ali Ishag, Hassan Al Mane, Rashid Saleh Al Ezbah, Masoud Saleh Al Ezbah,  Mohammed Al Kowari and others will compete for top honors in the classes of  the Shotgun, rifle and pistol. This  championship will bring together more than 300 shooters (Men and Women)  who are representing 12 Arab teams.