Doha: Believing in the importance of sport and its role in the lives of individuals and societies as a means for uniting peoples, and in the keenness of Qatar’s participation in regional and international events, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 Mediterranean Games.
It is being hosted by the Algerian city of Oran from June 25 to July 6. About 3,500 athletes representing 26 countries and Olympic committees will participate in the event.
H H the Amir’s attendance at the opening ceremony of the games comes at a time when Qatar has completed its preparations to host the most prominent sporting event this year, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as the first edition of this major global tournament in the Middle East.
From the moment Qatar was announced as the host country of the World Cup in 2010, Qatar affirmed its intention to organise an exceptional tournament and a unique and unprecedented World Cup by all standards. Qatar made all efforts and capabilities and harnessed the necessary resources to organise a global sporting event, which will have a positive impact on the entire Middle East region and will revive hopes in the hearts of the youth and residents of this part of the world.
With Qatar’s belief that sport has become an important means and one of the effective diplomatic tools to strengthen friendly relations with various countries of the world, H H the Amir attended the opening of the 24th Winter Olympics, which was held under the slogan “Together for a Shared Future” in Beijing.
On July 15, 2018, H H the Amir officially received the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar from President of the Russian Federation H E Vladimir Putin in the presence of FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a ceremony held in the Kremlin.
During the participation of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May, he took part in the discussion session held on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 entitled “Sport as a unifying force”.
H H the Amir mentioned that his first participation in the World Economic Forum comes in a special year for Qatar, in which it will host the FIFA World Cup. He remarked that it is going to be the first time that the Arab world hosted such a major event, stating the long-suffering that the region is going through, and how hosting the World Cup will be a source of hope for the youth throughout the region.
On October 9, 2018, H H the Amir was re-elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the session of meetings of the committee held in Argentina on the sidelines of the Youth Olympic Games.
Furthermore, On June 24, 2019, he participated in the meetings of the General Assembly of the 134th session of the IOC, which was held in Switzerland. During the meetings, a number of topics related to the development of sports and the Olympic movement at the global level were discussed, in addition to voting on the winning city to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, which was won by the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina.
While Qatar is eagerly awaiting to host the World Cup, it maintains a great record in terms of hosting international sporting events.
Doha has hosted hundreds of international sporting events across various age groups. Furthermore, the number of sports events for this year reached 575 events, which is the highest number the Qatar Sports Federation organised since its establishment.
It is worth mentioning that Qatar’s interest in sports stems from its awareness and recognition of the growing role of sport in building a healthy human being who strongly and effectively participates in his nation’s march towards building, development, and advancement.
Sport is one of the most important pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030.
