Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association, chairs the General Assembly meeting in the presence of top QFA officials via video technology yesterday.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA), presided over QFA’s General Assembly meeting in the presence of top QFA office-bearers, directors, and club members representatives yesterday.
Several key decisions were taken during the meeting conducted via video technology.
Mansoor Al Ansari, Secretary-General of QFA, explained the mechanism for voting on the General Assembly agenda electronically. The General Assembly agenda was swiftly approved after the amendment of some of its clauses, while the previous meeting minutes were also approved.
“We have successfully started the first steps to develop the Qatar Stars League further. This will result in strong decisions and radical changes in the coming weeks and months,” the QFA President said.
“Our strategic plan is based on six main goals that we work on annually – the most important of which are developing national teams, providing an effective system of governance and technical development for our leagues, clubs and referees. We also consistently seek to increase participation in football activities in our communities,” the QFA President added.
“We are working on expanding the professional set-up by allowing Second Division clubs to join the Qatar Stars League roster,” he added.
The General Assembly attendees agreed to extend the term of the current Executive Office, which ends in December 2022, until the 2023 General Assembly.
“The exit of Qatari clubs from the first round of the AFC Champions League is not satisfactory, and we need to assess the situation in detail,” the QFA President said.
“We seek to raise the efficiency of Qatari coaches through training courses with different football schools around the world. We hope to see Qatari coaches heading our clubs in local competitions in the future,” Sheikh Hamad said.
The QFA President applauded the induction of 200 referees who completed challenging qualifying procedures to win their official badges.
The General Assembly was informed that 42 MoUs were signed last season, including 37 with national federations, 3 with continental confederations and 2 with regional federations. Several friendly tournaments and matches have been hosted to test the operational plans before hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it was revealed during the meeting.
The General Assembly was attended by members of QFA’s Executive Committee Saud Abdul Al Aziz Al Mohannadi, Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Buainain, Hani Talib Ballan, Ibrahim Khalil Al Muhannadi, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani and Abdul Rahman Al Qahtani, in addition to the members of the General Assembly from the clubs, directors of departments and heads of the various committees of the QFA.
“This year, we are approaching the end of the period of the QFA’s strategic plan, whose basic foundations were outlined in 2011 to continue to the year 2016. And this plan was subject to review and reorientation in 2018 to continue until the end of the year 2022,” the QFA President said.
“With the Almighty’s blessing, we will have finished hosting the biggest football event in the world – the 2022 FIFA World Cup – on Qatari soil by the end of next year,” he added. “We feel honoured to represent the Arab world, the Middle East region and Asia in hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” he said.
“It will be the best World Cup. I am fully confident about this,” he added.
He stressed that the vision of QFA during the past decade was to become a football association characterised by leadership and creativity. "This vision had inspired us to work hard and strive to achieve our collective goals,"the QFA President added.
