The Local Organising Committee (LOC) has been working hard to ensure smooth running of the AFC U-23 Championships beginning today in Doha. A lot of effort from different stakeholders has gone into the preparations for the event. Mansour al-Ansari, QFA General Secretary and CEO, LOC said he and his team are looking forward to giving the participants a great experience. At the same time he hopes that Qatar can win the tournament and provide the icing on the cake.
Excerpts:

How do you feel going into this tournament?
We are prepared. We have a good experience in hosting major events. We hosted the second biggest football competition we can host under the FIFA umbrella which is the AFC 2011 finals, which is also the biggest football competition under AFC. And we had a very successful competition in 2011. This is the second biggest event under the AFC and the third biggest for us under FIFA.
We have two challenges. One is to host a great event where these young players who will be the future players for their teams in the World Cup have a great experience. And at the same time Qatar competes and wins the championship and qualifies for Rio Olympics. Which is also a challenge, we aim to achieve. Either or we are ready. We will do what we can to provide the best experience.

Will this be looked as a preparatory event for the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Every sporting event in Qatar is a preparation for the 2022 World Cup. We take it as a challenge and we take it as a step forward.

What measures have been taken to promote the tournament?
The LOC, through its marketing department has been promoting the championship and giving it the exposure that it deserves. The mascot (Najim) is a great tool to reach out to the local public and also the international audience. The ticket sales are online.
We are also going all out to promote our national team. We want the followers of the Qatar national team to be able to come and support their team for the championship.