The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) booth at Bayt Qatar in Rio De Janeiro is attracting a large number of visitors, its supervisor Mohamed Yousef al-Hammadi said yesterday.
Highlighting the large turnout at the pavilion, he said the visitors were keen to know about Qatar’s preparations to host the World Cup in 2022.
“The majority of visitors are aware and well informed about the venues of the World Cup finals. The questions were objective and reflected a clear understanding of, and a great passion for, the World Cup’’, al-Hammadi said.
He said that Qatar’s participation in the Olympics reflected the committee’s policy to  promote the country in  international forums and Rio 2016 presented a good opportunity to achieve the goal.
Work on Bayt Qatar had started a long time ago in co-ordination with the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) which provided all facilities to participate in this important event, he said, adding that the sponsorship and presence of QOC President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani had a significant impact on the success of Bayt Qatar and the state’s participation in the Olympics in general.
Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) president  Khaleel Ibrahim al-Jaber also lauded the SC’s participation in Bayt Qatar.
He praised SC ’s participation through a pavilion located in the heart of Bayt Qatar which, he said, demonstrated the importance of its role and reflected the efforts made by its officials to organise a distinct version of the FIFA World Cup that would fascinate the whole world.
Al-Jaber said he was participating in SC’s activities as a volunteer and wished to be the first official sport volunteer.
“Volunteering is a great honour to serve Qatar as the FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world to be hosted by the State of Qatar for the first time in the Middle East,’’ he said.
Al-Jaber made a presentation about Qatar’s hosting of the 2023 FINA World Championships in the Lecture Hall in Bayt Qatar in Rio.
The presentation was attended by Asian Athletics Association (AAA) and Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) president  Major General Dahlan al-Hamad, Anti-Doping Laboratory Qatar (ADLQ) executive-director Dr Mohamed al-Sayrafi, along with members of  the Bayt Qatar Committee in Rio 2016.
Meanwhile, QOC secretary-general Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman al-Kuwari has praised  the positive results of Qatari athletes in Rio.

Sheikh Joaan meets IAAF president

HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) president and head of the Qatari delegation taking part in Rio 2016, yesterday met Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who visited Bayt Qatar. Coe toured Bayt Qatar’s various pavilions and listened to a presentation about its contents and objectives and Qatar’s achievements in the fields of sports, development and cultural heritage. He praised the initiative of Bayt Qatar, noting that QOC had always been at the forefront to support the International Olympic movement’ projects.