For the fifth time the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has brought together the Youth Panel, this time looking at Qatar’s role as a global centre for sports and excellence centred around the Aspire Zone Foundation.
At Aspire Zone, the young residents of Qatar from 10 countries learned about the world class facilities and services provided by leading sports experts. The trip began with a visit to the SC Legacy Pavilion, where the panel members were shown the presentation given by the Qatar 2022 bid team to FIFA in 2010.
Sandhu, from India, was visibly impressed by the 3D presentation: “The whole world is welcome in Qatar. That was a really amazing presentation, which showed us in understandable stages how Qatar is going to host the World Cup.”
Another panel member, Samuel from the Philippines, reflected the presentation enabled the audience to feel part of the action. Meanwhile Ricardo from Salvador added that the presentation “has the answers for anyone who questions how Qatar earned the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup”.
The next stop on the trip was the Qatar Anti-Doping Laboratory. This visit took place at the same time as the laboratory’s certification by the executive committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency, with the new lab now being one of 35 certified centres around the world which test for forbidden substances in sports.
Explaining the facility’s importance, Salim al-Marri, from Qatar Anti-Doping Laboratory said that the lab would be “a new addition to the sports sector in Qatar and will also serve the Middle East and West Asia, complementing existing sports facilities and institutions and helping to realise Qatar’s 2030 Vision by playing a pioneering role in sports, science, and education”.
The Youth Panel then went on to visit other facilities at the complex. These showcased Aspire Zone’s ability to host major sporting events, including training grounds, facilities for research and sports medicine, and conference halls.
The Youth Panel also met members of the Qatari youth national team, who were training for the U-17 Gulf Cup tournament held at Aspire Academy.
The visit ended with a trip to the Aspetar Hospital, which specialises in orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine. It is one of the leading hospitals in this field on a global level and the first of its kind in the Gulf and the Middle East.
Enthusiasm and excitement were clearly visible among all the members of the Youth Panel throughout their field trip. This was especially the case when getting a close-up view of facilities used by some of world’s most famous sports stars, such as former Barcelona player Xavi Hernandez, who recently joined Al Sadd SC, and former Real Madrid midfielder Angel Di Maria, who recently undertook a successful medical examination at Aspetar before moving to Paris Saint-Germain. (SC.qa)