BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Qatar, hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is embarking on an ambitious plan to harness home-grown talent on and off the pitch, the country’s football chief said yesterday.
QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani said the game’s ruling body is set to tweak rules that would encourage investment on Qatari fringe players and stop clubs from splurging on foreign imports.
Qatar, currently ranked 101 on the FIFA computer, has never qualified for the World Cup finals despite signing top names like Bruno Metsu and Philippe Troussier as coaches over the last decade.
All that is about to change once 14 Qatar Stars League (QSL) sides will be allowed only three overseas players a season against the current figure of four signings per year, according to the QFA president.
“We want to give greater chances to Qatari young players. We want to encourage them to challenge the best,” Sheikh Hamad said while hinting at the heavy purchases made by QSL sides in signing overseas players.
“We have seen clubs recruiting some players at very high prices but they don’t do justice,” Sheikh Hamad explained while giving details of the new QFA road-map.
“They aren’t adding much. It is time to give a chance to invest on Qatari players by giving them new opportunities,” he added.
“When clubs are allowed four overseas players, they usually go for top strikers and that reduces the chances of home-grown talent playing the matches,” QFA President said.
“This way (by promoting Qatari players) the QSL clubs will focus on quality and performance of the local players,” Sheikh Hamad said.
When asked about the expansion of QSL to 14 sides, Sheikh Hamad said: “I think it was a successful experience (of adding two teams to a roster of 12 last year). The technical level may not have been up to scratch or the performances of some of the clubs may have dipped but overall it was successful.”
The QFA President added: “Look at Lekhwiya or Al Wakra. Their performances dipped and they couldn’t perform like they used to during certain stages of the season. All in all, it was a good experience to have 14 teams in QSL.”
The QFA chief said QSL sides must revive the never-say-die spirit to get positive results.
“We want them to compete to win. We want them to do well in the Asian Champions League (ACL),” Sheikh Hamad said.
“This promotion-relegation business is based on the club’s own performances,” Sheikh Hamad said. “It is like punishing your own children when they behave badly. You are not actually punishing them but telling them they need to perform better.
“Hard lessons are beneficial in the long run,” he said.
“The sides that get demoted have reasons to push themselves in the new season” QFA president said.
Sheikh Hamad said QFA will also focus on to reduce on the number of dropouts seen at the junior level.
“A few years ago, we had around 2700 registered players in the Under-13 bracket. By the time they reached the Under-17 bracket, we had only 350 or 400 players. We need to study the reasons behind the ratio of the dropouts,” Sheikh Hamad said.
“We have to look into this seriously and find answers to our questions,” the QFA president said. “I think reducing the number of schoolchildren dropping out of football is the way forward. Al Sadd probably has the most number of registered players. We need to have more at each club,” he said.
Sheikh Hamad said QFA is also working on getting home-grown coaches across the football industry in the country.
“We had Fahad Thani as Qatar coach (for two years). We want to see more coaches who are from Qatar. Even if we can’t get a Qatari coach for the national side, then we would look for somebody who could be an assistant coach. We will apply the same formula for the trainers and back-room staff,” Sheikh Hamad said.
THE PENINSULA
