The Emir Cup Trophy Tour made a stop for the first time ever at the Asian Communities Football Tournament (ACFT) semi-finals that took place in QFA’s Football Development Department pitches in which the Lebanon, India, Jordan and Nepal’s communities’ football teams were competing to qualify for the final.
Following the stop at ACFT, the Trophy Tour made a stop at the QIA Indian Tournament which took place in Doha Stadium in which thousands of fans cheered to welcome the trophy. Tournament officials thanked the QFA for their support of the tournament and for involving the Indian community in the Emir Cup Trophy Tour.
As a way to encourage and motivate the students to attend the final match which is set to take place on May 20 at 7pm in Jassim Bin Hamad (Al Sadd Stadium), the tour was also at Al Rashad Model Independent School for Boys.
The Trophy Tour, which is set to visit more than one spot in the lead up to the final match aims to thank the different communities who have supported the Emir Cup and QFA immensely in the past, and reinforces QFA’s objective which seeks to encourage all communities in Qatar to play more football.
The final match of ACFT will see the Indian community football team competing against the Nepalese community football team.
In its’ fourth edition, the tournament this year witness the participation of twelve Asian communities from across Qatar.
Organised by the QFA, this tournament is one of the many events that are organised to run along the period of this year’s Emir Cup and acts as a way to excite the fans ahead of the Emir Cup final match.
Al Rashad Model Independent School for Boys organised an eventful ceremony as a way to express its gratitude to QFA for involving the students in the Emir Cup tournament.
Organising the Trophy Tour illustrates QFA’s objective to instil a football culture amongst school students at a young age.
The students gathered enthusiastically around the famous trophy to take memorable pictures while wearing their favourite football team jersey.
Commenting on the occasion, Lulwa al-Kaabi, owner and principal of the school, said: “We are pleased to welcome the QFA delegation that is responsible for organising and promoting the Emir Cup Trophy Tour in Al Rashad Model Independent School, and we appreciate the great effort made by the QFA for constantly aiming to develop the football scene in general, and Emir Cup in specific.”
She added: “There is a greater interest in sports and football nowadays as a result of the country’s continued efforts to become a pioneer in this field and we are proud to contribute to the success of this objective. We look forward to attending the matches of the Emir Cup 2016 and take part in what is said to be the biggest football event of the year.”    
Hessa al-Mohannadi, Physical Education co-ordinator, commented: “We are extremely happy to welcome the Emir Cup Trophy Tour to the school and I am personally thrilled that the students have the opportunity to learn about the importance of sports participation.”
The Trophy Tour included two sessions: a gift distribution session and an informative session which was delivered by the QFA delegation about the importance of playing football and being part of the Emir Cup events, activities and matches. Students eagerly took part in the open discussion expressed their excitement about the forthcoming final match.