Doha: Qatar’s Ambassador to Germany, H E Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who graced the opening of 48th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha 2018 at the Aspire Dome yesterday termed the successful launch of the event as a fruition of hard work and the trust of the international world in Qatar built over the years.
“The trust that Qatar has from the International Gymnastics Federation hasn’t come by chance. It has come with the long experience that they have with Qatar and which has built over the years with its history of sport starting from 1981 when Qatar hosted the Sesame World Cup for football and until now where we are,” said Sheikh Saud while speaking to the media soon after official opening of the event.
Explaining the confidence which international sports bodies have in Qatar also reflects the trust in the people of Qatar.
“Over the last decade and a half, Qatar has organised several world championships in various sports and now we have the gymnastics Doha Worlds. Next year we will be hosting the IAAF World Championships for athletics and then we have the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar coming up, and we have many more after that. So this shows and explains the trust international sporting bodies have in Qatar and what we can deliver,” he explained.
Sheikh Saud said the FIG was confident of Doha Worlds’ success well in advance. “In gymnastics, we have been hosting the Word Cup series over the years and the FIG now knows the people behind the events here in Qatar very closely. They were confident that the first gymnastics world championships of the Middle East in Qatar would be a success much before the start of the event in Doha,” he said.
He credited Qatar’s growth as the capital for major sports events to the vision of Qatar’s leaders and their belief in sports being an investment for future generations of the nation.
“Our passion and love for sport has come from the belief of our leaders that investment in sports means in investment in the future generations of our nation. Qatar looks to sport as a vehicle to achieve the vision of His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani as Qatar’s National Vision for 2030.”
