Celtic FC delegation met with officials from Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the Qatar Stars League (QSL), the Qatar Football Association (QFA), and with ASPIRE Academy.

Delegates from Scottish powerhouse Celtic Football Club were in Doha recently to meet with Qatar’s football entities ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Liaising with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the Qatar Stars League (QSL), the Qatar Football Association (QFA), and with ASPIRE Academy was Celtic chief executive Peter Lawell and commercial director Adrian Filby.

As one of Scotland’s most important clubs, and former champions of Europe, Celtic’s mission in Qatar was to take part in an exchange of knowledge, sharing experience and expertise as a globally renowned club while in return learning from their Qatari counterparts and hearing about the plans and progress for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Also part of the Scottish contingent in Doha were Celtic youth development squads along with their coaches Mark McNally (under-16), Miodrag Krivokapic (under-18), and Celtic’s head of Youth Development Chris McCart. Participating in a tri-series tournament alongside Corinthians of Brazil and their hosts from ASPIRE, McCart’s development squads found it tough to edge past their Brazilian rivals, losing by a one-goal deficit on two occasions — a 4-3 thriller in the Under 16’s match and a 1-0 loss for the older boys.

Against the hosts from ASPIRE, Celtic fared better by drawing one match and winning the other.

Celtic’s head of Youth Development told www.sc.qa that his first visit to Qatar had been impressive on all levels.

“It’s been an enjoyable experience. It’s a very hospitable country and they’ve made us feel very welcome. ASPIRE is probably world class. I don’t think there’s better out there regarding proportion and what they’ve got to offer their young players. I think they recruit the best coaches, the best sport scientists, the best medics, and the best grounds-people to make sure facilities are excellent. Money is no object to them, but this is a long-term project that everyone has bought into at ASPIRE and I think it will bear fruit over time as it keeps developing.”

Since most of these young players could very well be part of the 2022 generation in Qatar, Celtic’s trip to ASPIRE was important as they got a taste of how Qatar is building up its football culture — from the results on the pitch, to the stadia and facilities, and finally to the cooling technology.

“It’s great to see the world class facilities. From what I’ve seen so far Qatar is very inventive and they make sure things happen. I think they can put on a successful World Cup; they’ll make sure that the facilities are excellent, especially with air-cooled stadiums.”

The coach also highlighted that for fans and players, the compact tournament concept will make the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar a great success: “It’s also important that there’s going to be a real community aspect when everyone’s so close to each other and they’re not as detached. But in the end I’ve been very impressed with the organization and innovation and I think it will be a very successful World Cup.”

 

 

 

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