DOHA: Qatar Indian Football Forum (QIFF), an expatriate organisation promoting sports and football events among Indian community here, in association with Qatar Football Association (QFA), the football governing body in Qatar, have announced the inaugural schedule of the 9th Qatar Kerala Inter District Football Tournament which is sponsored by Western Union–City Exchange.
The inaugural match of the tournament will be held at Doha Stadium on Thursday (September 17) and will kick off at 6pm. A total of 16 football teams which represent various districts in Kerala state in India will be participating in this year’s tournament. The matches will be held on Thursdays and Fridays from September 17, 2015 until November 13. The final match will be held at Qatar Sports Club Stadium. Top officials from the QFA, Qatar Olympic Committee and the Embassy of India are expected to attend the opening match.
Both the QFA and QIFF are hopeful that the partnership will contribute to spreading the game of football among different communities in Qatar and the Indian community in particular. The active participation of Indian expats in football and other events organised by the QFA are some of the major goals of this collaboration. The QFA will provide its support to this tournament by providing an official football stadium and official referees to officiate the matches.
Hamad Al Kuwari, QFA’s Executive Director of Operations (Acting), said: “The QFA is happy to support the QIFF in organising this football tournament as it achieves one of QFA’s main goals which is to create a platform that allows the different communities in Qatar to be able to play football.”
Shamsudheen Olakara, President of QIFF, said: “The Indian community is really delighted to receive support from QFA. This will certainly involve the Indian expatriates in all the QFA events and tournaments. The Indians living in Qatar understand the value of sports. They are also keen to ensure that the sports events in Qatar are successful.”
The Peninsula
