Efforts are underway at  the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and  the Supreme Education Council to launch the seventh edition of  the Schools Olympic Program (SOP) under the theme “Sport and Integrity” on September 25.

The prestigious programme will bring together a group of vital partners, comprising Qatar School Sport Association, Qatar Paralympic Committee, Ministry of Interior (strategic partner), the International Centre for Sport Security, Qatar Anti-Doping Commission, Qatar Anti-Doping Laboratory alongside Maersk Oil Qatar who was named as official sponsor for the programme over the upcoming three years.

The Schools Olympic Program (SOP) is a pioneering sport program inspired and staged by the State of Qatar since six years ago. The SOP has received an overwhelming response from all entities of the country and became an annual sport event supervised by the Qatar Olympic Committee along with other permanent partners.

In a detailed article published in “Qatar Sport Magazine” recently, Mohammed Hajaj al-Shahwani, the Deputy-Chairman of International Centre for Sport Security, outlined the valuable objectives and the productive role of (ICCS) in protecting youth and new generation.

“Speaking as a fellow sports industry professional, an avid fan and a passionate advocate of the positive values that sport can instill in young people, it saddens me when I continue to see the news dominated by the selfish and inexcusable behaviour of the minority of athletes that so many aspiring athletes look up to as role models,” al-Shahwani said.

“At the ICSS, we believe that early education is crucial in ensuring integrity in sport. In the same way that youngsters are educated about drugs and alcohol in relation to their sporting career, the same should be true for integrity,” he added.

But many organisations now provide integrity programmes for professional athletes, the same cannot be said for young athletes on the pathway to emulating their sporting heroes. At present, the lack of integrity education for youth is a gaping black-hole in sport globally.

“Rarely do you hear of athletes having the awareness, and confidence, to report instances of doping and approaches by fixers. This is an area in which many organisations in sport must improve. They must educate their young athletes to recognise, resist and report an awkward or distressing experience surrounding Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) or an approach by a potential match fixer.”

Al-Shahwani also said, “This is why the ICSS, in partnership with the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), have created ‘Save the Dream’, a new initiative that aims to educate young people about sporting integrity and promote positive messages around sport and its character- building values.”

It is my hope that Save the Dream will become a powerful instrument to protect the next generation of athletes and sports stars around the world for years to come.”

“As a first step, Save the Dream will create a panel consisting of high-profile athletes from different sports and regions around the world. Led by our captain, Italian football legend, Alessandro del Piero, these ‘champions of integrity’ will look to educate aspiring athletes about sportsmanship and the dangers of match- fixing and doping.”

On other hand, the results of  the Sport Exercise  Survey conducted jointly by the Qatar Olympic Committee), Statistics Authority and Supreme Education Council showed that around 91% of  families encourage their children to participate in the SOP seventh edition under the theme “Sport and Integrity”.

The SOP is a pioneer idea that came in response to the prestigious initiative of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar and the President of QOC in an attempt to link sports activities with others, besides encouraging school students to practice sport as an integral part of their daily life.

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