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Till last year, Mana Ibrahim al-Mana had never seen a cricket match live. The youthful chairman of Century 21 Qatar—a property management company which is developing and managing the West End Park facility in the Industrial Area of the city—had seen the game on television before, but had never felt the need to go and experience it in a stadium. |
Then during a trip to the UAE sometime last year, he was invited to watch a one-day game between Pakistan and South Africa. The day-night match, in a packed stadium, caught his imagination.
“Why can’t we do something similar in Qatar? We have a huge expatriate population too, and I strongly felt they were missing out on some watching good cricketing action. It all began from there,” says al-Mana.
The stadium at West End Park, initially built as a football ground, was developed into a cricket facility with floodlights. A pitch expert from Pakistan was roped in to prepare the wicket, stands were built to accommodate the spectators, and in January, a women’s Twenty20 and one-day tri-series was fought between teams from Pakistan, South Africa and Ireland, thus putting Qatar on the world cricket map for the first time ever.
“Who believed that Qatar would one day host an international cricket series? It was just the beginning, believe me. My aim is to make cricket the second most popular sport in Qatar, and Insh’Allah, it shall happen.
“My goal is to get a World Cup to Qatar, and believe me, we shall make it happen,” he declares.
Quite an ambitious statement, one might say, but al-Mana is dead serious. “I believe in this game. I strongly believe that cricket has a big role to play in Qatar’s growing appeal to the world. People laughed us off when we bid for the football World Cup. We shall prove to the world by hosting one of the best World Cups come 2022.
“Next year we are hosting the World Championship of handball. I am told we are bidding for the 2019 World Athletics Championships. We are bidding for the Olympics too. Why can’t Qatar host a cricket World Cup?” he asks.
He, though, would not specify if he was aiming for the World Twenty20 or the 50-overs World Cup.
“I had been to Bangladesh during the World Twenty20. I strongly feel our facilities and infrastructure are far better than what I saw in Bangladesh.
“What we are lacking is a cricket culture. We have to develop the grounds, we have to make more and more people play the game, we have to take the game to the schools, we have to make the kids play the game.
“Football is the most popular sport in Qatar. Cricket can take the second spot. And I believe that’s going to happen very soon,” al-Mana stresses.
He already has charted out his course for the year.
“We would begin with the Ramadan cricket tournament. In September, we will host the Doha League, which would have 12 or 14 local teams. Each team would be allowed to play four foreign players. There would be prize money worth QR50,000 up for grabs.
“In October, we would be hosting the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Under-16 tournament (Hong Kong, Iran, Kuwait, the UAE and Afghanistan, besides hosts Qatar, would be the participating teams).
“The women’s tri-series would be played in November instead of January, and we expect to have at least two more teams besides Pakistan, South Africa and Ireland. We are already in talks with the cricket boards of several countries, and would very soon let you know the details.
Now that an UAE leg has been added to the IPL (Indian Premier League), al-Mana hopes to convince the organisers to allot a few matches to Qatar.
“It would be great for the fans here if that happens. My aim is to host 12 events per year.
“The location of the West End Park stadium is strategic. A big chunk of the expatriate population stays in that area, so we have at least 70,000 fans who are all around us. They do not need to travel even, they just have to walk in. The game is poised for a big growth here, just wait and watch.”
Al-Mana is also building a cricket academy in West End Park, where the trainees would have former England star Kevin Pietersen passing on the tips.
“Pietersen looked happy and excited with the facilities here,” says al-Mana. “He has promised us all help. There are several other big names who have voiced their willingness to lend their expertise, but we decided on Pietersen because we wanted to add value to our efforts.
“We hope to have the academy up and running by early next year. It would have the best of facilities including a state-of-the-art gym and swimming pool.”
The avid Barcelona fan is predicting a final between Brazil and Argentina in next month’s World Cup final.
“Spain and Germany will reach the semifinals, but I think the big fight would be between these two South American sides. Messi is my favourite player, so I hope it’s Argentina in the end,” he signs off.
