Qatar football

Initially the Qatari crowd was quiet compared to the Thais sitting opposite. Then a clapping began, swelling up. Then, with the first of three Qatar goals, the crowd – the biggest I have ever seen in tiny Qatar – surged to their feet, yelling their support.

We were at the quarterfinals of the Asian Games football, in Al Gharaffa stadium. Qatar went on to beat Iran – who had won their previous 15 Asian Games football matches – in the semifinals, becoming the first host nation to reach the finals in twenty years, and topped it off by beating Iraq 1-0 in the finals in front of an 18,000 strong crowd. This wasn’t just a fluke, either – just two years before they had become champions in the Gulf Cup.

Qatari men are football mad, and their national team is the most highly ranked in the Gulf. Yet, until now, little has been written in English about football in this tiny peninsula. We set out to try and collect what information we could.

Origins

The first football club was set up when Bedouin nomads were still roaming the desert, in Dukhan in 1948. In 1950 the first Doha club, “Al-Ahli”, was established. The Qatar Football Association was founded in 1960 and in 1970 became associated with FIFA.

The Qatar football team

Despite the size of their country, the Qatar football team are highly rated and have a pretty impressive list of results: see here: fifa.com. They are now ranked 58th in FIFA's World Rankings, and their dream now is to enter the World Cup for the first time. They are coached by a Bosnian, Dzemaludin Musovic, and the team plays in all white.

Star players

Khalfan Ibrahim has become the first Qatari to win the Asian Football Confederation player of the year award. At just 18 years old, he's also the youngest player ever to win the award. He's probably one of the reasons Qatar has got as far as they have in the Asian Games, too, scoring two goals in his international debut match against Bangladesh, and a further two against Thailand in the semi-finals of the Asian Games.

Sebastian Quintana played some superb football during the Asian Games. As you might have guessed from his name, he wasn’t actually born in Qatar, but was brought to Qatar from Uruguay in September 2004 by French coach Bruno Metsu. (He had to look Qatar up on the map when he was recruited). He started playing for Al Gharaffa, scoring 14 goals in their first season and helping them to the top of the Q league, before moving to Qatar Sport club, where he scored 19 goals in 20 Games and was voted Q-league player of the year. After two years of residence he was allowed to play in the National Team, and scored 4 goals during the Asian Games. Qatar claims he is only 18, but this seems highly unlikely.

Leagues and clubs

There are 20 clubs in the country. 10 play in a higher league (known as the Q-league), ten in a lower league. Each of the ten teams in the higher league will play a total of 18 games. The bottom two teams of the top league are relegated, the highest two of the second-tier league promoted. The 10 clubs presently in the Qatari top flight are Al Sadd, Qatar Sports Club, Al Arabi, Al Rayyan, Al Ahli, Al Shamal, Umm Salal, Al Gharrafa, Al Khor, Al Wakra.

Stadiums
Qatar’s football teams have large and modern stadiums with a capacity of up to 50,000 (Khalifa stadium). Given the population of the country (approximately 900,000 including a majority expatriate population), these stadiums are never going to be filled for a normal football match.

Football supporters Time and time again outsiders have commented that Qataris do not support their teams or country in any numbers. One writer noted that even the biggest games would only draw in a crowd of 10,000. Now remember there are only about 180,000 Qataris, so roughly 90,000 males, many of whom will be either too young (there is a huge birth rate) or old and infirm to attend, and you realise that 10,000 is a massive number. A UK equivalent, taking into account the relative size of the populations, would be about three million. Using the same maths, even a more normal crowd of a thousand or two for a club match is huge. (Some Qatar residents – who make up the majority of the population but are not citizens – have become fans, but the majority of the supporters at the games are Qatari).

Anyone who has been present at the games can not doubt the enthusiasm of the football supporters. The wild Arabic football chants and drumming sound closer to Africa than to Europe. Happily, supporters have managed to avoid the violence that has dogged English football. Instead, after winning a game they prefer to hop in their Landcruisers and drive up and down the Corniche, leaning out of their windows, honking their horns and letting off firecrackers. Well, what would you do if you had no alcohol or night clubs? (Qataris, unlike residents, are not allowed to drink alcohol and are often prevented from entering nightclubs).

Best club

Al Sadd, 11 times Q-league winners and only former winners of the continental cup, are probably the best team, although the supporters of their close rivals Al Arabi might disagreee. Al Sadd is a street in Doha, Qatar's capital city, which gives you some idea of the scale of things here. However, their president is Sheikh Tamin Bin Hamad Al Thani, who is also the heir to the throne.

Big money

Oil money is pouring into football here. In 2003 each football team in Qatar was given an initial ten million dollars to go out and employ some big foreign names. One of the football coaches told me that there is a former Tottenham player in his mid-40s receiving nearly two million dollars a year. The most well-known foreign player here is Gabriel Batistuta, an Argentinian striker, but he has been joined this season by Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha (formally of Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League), Cameroonian Bill Tchato and Australian Tony Popovic.

Developing talent

Qatar doesn’t just want to employ big names. They are also aiming to develop home grown talent, and have launched a sports academy called Aspire to do so. Every year the academy aims to take on 70 youngsters in Qatar to develop their sporting talent; not a huge amount, considering the athletic skills of every child in the country is tested. The head football coach is Michael Browne – former Charlton Academy Chief. (See www.aspire.qa/). Football is also incredibly popular in schools – one UK teacher in a secondary school told me he was astonished at how fast the football played in the schools was.

Further information:

Qatar football association
Contact details: 7th Floor, QNOC Building
West Bay P.O. Box 5333
DOHA Tel:+974/494 4411
Fax:+974/494 4414
football [at] qatarolympics.org

Website: http://www.qfa.com.qa/ (currently under construction)

Also see: Qatar Tennis


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Qatar football team takes the gold medal as Asian Games finish

The Asian Games finished with a bang for Qatar today as, just an hour before the start of an amazing closing ceremony based on the 1001 nights, they beat Iraq 1-0 to win the gold medal in the Asian Games football tournament.

The game itself was far from spectacular, and though Qatar easily outplayed Iraq, they were far from their best. Despite this, Qatar could easily have had several more goals - Sebastian Quintana very nearly scored seven minutes into the game, but the Iraqi goalkeeper managed to deflect his header out of the net. Apart from that the first half was uneventful, with some mostly unconvincing attempts by the Qatar team, although Khalfan Ibrahim did have a spectacular run at the goal, easily beating several Iraqi players but not quite able to score.

Iraq made more of an effort in the second half, putting the host team under pressure for the first time in the game, although Qatar rarely looked in serious danger of conceding a goal. Finally, Qatar player Rajem managed to connect with a shot from the corner, heading the ball into the net from just a few yards out.

The athmosphere in the packed 18,000 seat stadium was fantastic, and there was huge support for Qatar, with chants varying from "Allah Akbar" to "Oleh-oleh". At the end of the match the cheering was so loud it was deafening, as the Qatar team threw their coach and anyone else in grabbing distance into the air. It's a fantastic result for this incredibly small country, and a great way to end a very successful Asian Games.

Also see; Iraqi soccer team scores major upset over terrorists

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Qatar Asian Olympic Games and the Sport City

Once again it was a grey Qatar day. If you haven't been here before, ‎you might get the wrong impression about Qatar - even confuse it with an English autumn. In fact I've ‎been told that this is the worst weather Qatar has ever had (although that is a European viewpoint - ‎Qataris normally greet rain with delight,) and I'm sure we've had the average yearly fall of seven ‎centimetres in the last two weeks.‎

Along with many other Qatari residents, we braved the rain and went along to Sport City today. To do ‎so we had to first park the car - the one draw back of the day. This muddy mess of a car-park was ‎obviously one designed with land cruisers in mind - if there had ever been such a thing as a design. At ‎least we had a car - there didn't appear to be any buses, and there is a chronic lack of taxis in the ‎cities. Most of my car-less friends rely on illegal private drivers to get around.‎

It was my first time within the huge complex, and parking aside, I ‎was amazed and impressed. Every building, including the mosque, seemed like an image from the future. In Aspire, a low curving building which will probably still look modern in twenty years time, we had the choice of watching wrestling, gymnastics, ‎cycling, wishu, boxing and other events. Tickets and refreshments were, as normal, ridiculously ‎cheap.

‎After watching several events at Aspire, we strolled across to Khalifa stadium, ‎where we watched the running, high jumping, shot put and discus throwing. Khalifa stadium is truly impressive, ‎with arches and struts carving high above the spectators. It was cold, though, and it was hard to ‎imagine that this was the country which had punished us with almost 50 degree temperatures.‎

After watching the athletics, I wandered over to the Cultural Section. Here you can see the visual arts, ‎a display of armour by Qatar Museum (some of it very rare indeed - included elephant armour - one ‎of only two sets in the world), a philatelic exhibition and an incredible photographic exhibition.‎

As we scraped the bottom of our car on the ridiculously muddy and bumpy car park, I realised we had ‎been to one of the top sporting facilities in the world. Maybe Qatar's ambition to hold the world ‎Olympic Games are not so far-fetched after all. All they need to do now is sort out the transport - and ‎some decent parking.‎


Also see: Qatar Asian Games
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Asian games football: Qatar v. Thailand (quarter finals)

As we arrived at the AL Gharaffa stadium in Doha earlier this evening, the previous match had just come to a halt and a couple of thousand Iraqi supporters were going wild, chanting "Iraq" over and over again. Eventually, they started to move away and we nabbed a centre field seat, jammed our free Qtel/Qatar hats over our heads and settled down to watch the match.

We thought this was going to be a tough match for Qatar, and indeed they nearly conceded a goal immediately. For the first ten minutes the Thais seemed to be all over the Qatari team, who were nervous and seemed unable to coordinate as a team. The right-winger on the Thai team seemed particularly dangerous, and we were sure he would end up scoring a goal.

However, Qatar gradually pulled themselves together, and, 26 minutes into the match, the ball rebounded off the Thai goal keeper and was tapped back in by Khalfan Ibrahim.

After this, the Qatar team outplayed the Thais, although they had some help with some spectacular saves from their goal keeper. At times they seemed to pass the ball with ease around their smaller opponents. At 50 minutes Khalfan Ibrahim scored again in exactly the same manner as before. A minute later Abdullah Obaid repeated the feat and the crowd went wild.

It was nice to see a (large) stadium half full - there are only about a 120,000 native Qataris, and if a bomb had gone off a fairly sizable percentage of the male population would have disappeared. The Thais were also well represented, and at first were loouder than the Qataris, although they were rather more subdued in the second half. After the first few minutes, Qatar played well and fast, and to get a world class team from such a small population is a real achievement. Hopefully, they can repeat their win in the semi-finals. I'll be there watching to see if they can do so.

See also: Qatar Football and Khalfan Ibrahim: A name to remember

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Doha Asian Games - cycling on the Corniche

Yesterday we had another day of rain in Qatar. Being a desert country, Qatar's roads and drains are not set up for flooding, and - on the backroads, which have avoided the pre-Asian Games facelift and where potholes are still common - driving was distinctly hazardous.

Rain was followed by a day of English grayness, but that didn't put off Qatar residents. Many flocked to the stadiums to watch the Games, while other took their plastic chairs down to the Corniche, where the roads had been blocked off for the cycling and running events.

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A day at the Asian Games

After being bedridden with illness for several days, I finally got to witness some action at the Asian Games today. I chose Qatar Sports Club, and though the place was far from full it wasn't quiet either. Qatar has done its best to make the Games accessible to all, including those on the tightest of budgets - I got to see three different sports (and I could have seen more if I'd been there since 9.00 a.m.) for a paltry ten riyals ($2.50). They also had a huge number of volunteers helping out - far more than were needed, but a nice way of getting people involved in the games.

First we watched the men's soft tennis doubles. Although the sitting area was small, it wasn't nearly full - there must have been around 60 supporters for Taiwan and Korea. They still managed to deafen us with their cheering, though. After that, we moved across to the women's single, and watched a tiny Taiwanese lady thrash the Chinese and win Taiwan's first gold medal these games. (China seems to have taken all the rest!)

We then watched Japanese play Thailand for the semi-finals. Here there was a more decent turnout, although it didn't nearly fill the stadium. Still, the seats in Khalifa Stadium alone represents about 7 percent of the population here, so to expect to fill all the stadiums in Qatar would be naive.

After watching the weightlifting, we bought another ticket (five riyals - less than two dollars) to watch Japan play North Korea. Again, a mostly empty stadium, although there were supporters present for both Japan and Korea. This was better than the women's football match my friends had watched between Japan and Thailand - my three friends had comprised the entire audience. (The Japanese ladies won - not that the Thais seemed to mind, they seemed more intent on having a good time.)

Again, despite their small number the Japanese managed to fill the huge stadium with their enthusastic support - three ring leaders with caps turned backwards orchestrating the cheering and singing, and even involving some local Arab lads who had sitting with them. The North Koreans also seemed very loud at first, until we realised that their cheering and music was coming not from the supporters but empty seats opposite us. The cheeky blighters were playing recordings of cheerings and people singing their national anthem, obviously not trusting the supporters they had flown in.

Two quick goals were scored in the first five minutes: first by the Koreans, then by the Japanese. The two teams seemed evenly matched, although my Japanese colleague told me that the Japanese were playing their under 21 team - their national team is playing in Europe. The Koreans seemed superior at passing, while the Japanese showed both skill and lightning speed in attack.

At half time we left, leaving our Japense friend behind. (The Japanese eventually lost with a score of 2-1.) We went out the Korean supporters, who were trundling out to have a quiet fag. They seemed thin, gaunt and mostly glum faced, clothed in old-fashioned cloth jackets - a stark contrast to the jovial Japanese.

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Watch the Japanese supporters support their team

Listen to the Korean supporters - and try to work out where all that sound is coming from!

Asian Games results

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The start of the Qatar Asian Games

Today saw the opening ceremony of the Asian Games. Part of the ceremony told the story of a pearl diver (“The Seeker”), lost at sea after a storm, and saved from the Old Man of the sea by a golden falcon. He is picked up by the falcon and carried away to discover the wealth of Asia, before finally returning wealthy to his betrothed. We then got to saw women perform a wedding dance in traditional (not black) clothing – not something men often get to see in Qatar.

There was a very effective replication of sea and waves projected onto the stadium floor, and afterwards we, “The Seeker” and his son watched as the development of technology through the ages, from Galileo to space rockets, was represented by giant models ridden by gold suited acrobats. Finally, the speaker announced, Qatar came to the golden age of oil and gas. It was interesting to reflect that Qatar had come from a few pearl fishers and nomads (with a population numbering, not so long ago, only about thirty thousand) to be very nearly the richest country in the world. Not in centuries, as represented in the Games, but a few short decades – my friend’s father was still riding camels and living in a tent only forty years ago.

The finale of the games saw one of the Emir’s son ride at a gallop up a walkway to light the Asian Games fire. The climb was quite steep and the horse stumbled and nearly lost its footing – for a second it all looked like it could come to a sudden end. However, the fire was lighted successfully, and after some speeches the Games were finally declared open.

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Cultural Events Schedule

There’s a huge range of events and exhibition on over the next two weeks, many of them free, and everyone should be able to find something they are interested in. All the events included in this schedule are open to all. (Click here for the Asian Games Sports schedule)

2nd-4th December

Qatari Musical: The Love Story of Tabble Wa Tabble
(where musical instruments represent people)
Time: 9.00 p.m. Location: Qatar National Theatre Admission: Qr10

2nd-14th December

The Pearl of the Gulf
Multi media show with musical fountains, dance, lasers and more
Time: 7.30 p.m. and 10.00 p.m. Location: Fisherman’s Harbour Admission: Qr 10

Qatari Folklore: features Qatari music
Location: Al Rumailah Park – Heritage Village Time: 4.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. Admission: free Admission: Qr 10

Thai Musical Instruments and Cultural Dancing Show
Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

Azerbajan folklore ensemble of music and dance: “Djang”
Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

Ornina Dance Group – Syrian Dance
Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

Santosa and Dasentra Dance Group – Indonesian Time
5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

Hands Percussion Team: Malaysian
Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

Bahrain Folklore Band
Time 5.30 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Sport City and Sheraton Park Admission: Free

2nd – 15th December

The Lost World Museum: The Parade of the Giants (Dinosaur exhibition)
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Sheraton Doha Hotel – Al Majalis Hall Admission: Free

Weaponry Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m. Location: Sport City: Women’s club Admission: free

Qatari Historical Photos Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Fahd Bin Ali Palace Admission: Free

Islamic Art Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Fahd Bin Ali Palace Admission: Free

Orientalist Art Exhibition
Time: 10 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: The Orentalist Art Museum Admission: Free

Mughal Jewellery Exhibition
Time: 10 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Al-Majilis Hall,Sheraton Doha Hotel Admission: Free

Traditional Costumes Exhibition
Time: 10 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Al-Majilis Hall, Sheraton Doha Hotel Admission: Free

Islamic Coins Exhibition
Time: 10 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Location: Fahd Bin Ali Palace Admission: Free

Dawn of Photography Exhibition: includes 19th Century pictures shown in 3D
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m. Location: The Sports City – Women’s club Admission: Free

Philatelic and Numismatic Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m. Location: The Sport City – Women’s club Admission: Free

Asian Visual Arts Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Location: The Sports City – Women’s club Admission: Free

Qatari Sports Archive Gallery
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Location: The Sport City - Aspire Admission: Free

Asia in Photography Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Location: The Sport’s City – Women’s Club Admission: Free

Sand Sculpture Exhibition – by Sudarsan Pattnaik (India)
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Location: The Sports City Admission: Free

Islamic Heritage Exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 4.00 a.m. Location: Al Resala Girls School Admission: Free

Architecture through photography exhibition
Time: 10.00 a.m. – 9.00 a.m. Location: The Sports City – Women’s club Admission: Free

Asian Handicrafts
Time: 4.00 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Al-Rumeilah Park – Heritage Village Admission: Free

Qatari Handicrafts
Time: 4.00 – 10.00 p.m. Location: Al-Rumeilah Park – Heritage Village Admission: Free

Children across Asia
Time: 10.00 – 4.00 p.m. Location: Youth Creative Art Centre Admission: Free

Para Art Exhibition
Time: 9.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m. Location: Al-Shaffalah Centre Admission: Free

The Dome 3rd Digital Theatre: Movie and film
Time: 9.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m. Location: Al-Shaffalah Centre Admission: Free

Girls Art Programme
Time: 1.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Location: Girls Creative Centre Admission: Free

4th,6th,8th,10-12th December

Al Qaffal – Musical show about the lives of pearl divers
Time: 6.00 p.m. Location: Fisherman’s harbour Admission: Qr 10

5th December

Fashionable Asia – Asian fashion parade with top Asian models.
Time: 9.30 p.m. Location: Al Dafna Hall, Sheraton Doha Hotel Admission: Qr50/100

8th December

Madame Butterfly Opera
Time: 9.30 p.m. Location: Al Dafna Hall, Sheraton Doha Hotel Tickets: Qr 50/100

8th – 10th December

Qatari Music Concert
Time: 8.00 Location: Qatar National Theatre Tickets: Qr10

11th December

Jazz – Rabih Abou Khalil Group, Zakir Hussein Ensemble and Rhanda Ghossoub Quatret
Time: 8.30 p.m. Location: Al Dafna Hall, Sheraton Doha Hotel Admission: Qr50

13th December

Fire of Anatolia – Turkish dance production
Time: 9.30 p.m. Location: Al Dafna Hall, Sheraton Doha Hotel Admission: Qr 50/100

14th December

Ammar Hachicho: Classical Piano Concert
Time: 8.00 p.m. Location: Qatar National Theatre Admission: Qr10

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The Corniche Experience

No, they don’t put you in the middle of the road and then drive Landcruisers and Nissan trucks through red lights at you (although this option is still available) – the Corniche Experience is actually a much more gentle exploration of the five senses.

In the smelly tent (okay, the scent tent) you can experience the different smells of Qatar and the Asian Games. The sight tent has both images of the games and some very cool rotating lights – which you can change by racing on bikes - and in the dark touch tent you put your hand into metal cylinders and guess what you are touching before the object lights up. Outside, multi-coloured flags wave in the wind and speakers blast out both the music and the sounds of the games. The taste tent was the only disappointment – when we were there they didn’t have anything to taste except a few boiled sweets, although it was a little early in the day.

The Corniche Experience is located at the West Bay end of the Corniche near the Sheraton Hotel. In the Sheraton Park there’s also a big screen for broadcasting live coverage of the Asian Games (including the opening and closing ceremonies), a stage for showcasing traditional dances and entertainment from across Asia, shopping tents and food from different countries (at very reasonable prices). You can get your tickets to the Asian Games here, too, – we got our tickets for the football finals for Qr 20 ($5). Overall, well worth the trip.




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Doha Games Opening Ceremony

Qatar doesn’t believe in doing things in halves, as it will demonstrate tomorrow with the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games – an event Qatar believes will not only overshadow the opening ceremony of the Olypmic Games in Sydney, but will be the biggest event ever in Asia.

“We are eagerly awaiting what will be the culmination of several years of planning for the biggest ceremony Asia has ever known,” said the Deputy Director General of DAGOC modestly. “We are doing things in this ceremony that have never been done before,” added David Atkins, the Australian director.

The event will make use of the creative skills of 8,000 artists, and will feature Chinese popstar Jack Cheung, Bollywood star Sunidhi Chauhan, Lebanese artist Magida El Roumi and tenor José Carreras. It’ll take place in Khalifa stadium, originally an open topped 25,000 seat stadium but now a 50,000 seat venue with a floating roof.

The ceremony should certainly be worth watching, and once again demonstrates Qatar's determination to stand up and be noticed by the world despite its tiny size.

Also see:

The Qatar Asian Games

The Asian Games Torch returns to Qatar

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Asian Games Torch returns to Qatar

The Doha Asian Games Torch returns to Qatar today (25th November) after travelling 50,000 kilometres through more than 14 Asian countries, starting with India and ending in Bahrain. After being carried by and on trains, bicycles, motorbikes, camels, horses, trams, rowing boats, dhows, canoes, cable cars, rollerblades, skis, dragon boats, classic cars and ferries, it will finally arrive at Al-Shamal port in a traditional Dhow at around 2.30 in the afternoon. It will be carried ashore by Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the 15th Asian Games Torch Relay Ambassador, but a further 1000 Qatari residents will carry the torch around Qatar over the next seven days. The welcome party should be worth watching, although you can expect crowds!

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The Qatar Asian Games

Just eighteen days to go to the Asian Games, and as I write this (at eleven o’ clock on a Friday evening), I can hear the frantic banging of electric drills and screeching of dragged metal girders from the road outside. The whole city seems like a building site, and is in a rushed scramble to get ready before the eyes of Asia turn upon it. Of special annoyance is the seemingly random opening and shutting of roads – never with notice, signs or explanation.

Yet I have a feeling that everything will go smoothly during the games themselves. Yes, there will still be unfinished buildings everywhere, and there will be journalists sleeping on floors (a friend is putting up several), but the stadiums are built, the rehearsals complete and the roads – well, lets not talk about roads anymore. It’s a sore point with Doha residents. But they’ll be functioning.

The city is immensely proud of having won the opportunity to host the 19th Asian Games. The successful holding of the games are crucial to part of a bigger strategy to put this tiny country on the map, attract tourism and diversify away from its dependence on oil and gas. Qatar has a lot of hopes pinned on this event.

It’s perhaps worth remembering that part of the reason the Asian Olympic Games were started were to provide an avenue for countries to compete without going to war. As we’ve pointed out before, Qatar likes to show off through its sport and its buildings rather than through armies and weapons. If only other countries in the region would take the same attitude.

Asian Games Football Tournament

For more information see the offical website of the 15th Asian Games


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