The Qatar 2015 Organising Committee held a press conference at the Lusail Multipurpose Arena on Thursday evening in the presence of the Organising Committee director general Dr Thani al-Kuwari, Marketing and Communication Committee head Sheikha Asmaa Thani al-Thani, and Protocol Committee head Saeed Abdullah al-Eidah and Security Committee’s Abdullah Sultan al-Ghanim.
“The Organising committee was determined to put up a tournament according to the promises we had made,” Dr al-Kuwari said. “There were rumours that Qatar cannot put up good facilities and there was no readiness but since the beginning of the tournament, we have proven the contrary. Our work on the ground has demonstrated that Qatar puts out serious work and not just words.”
He added that there were a lot of meetings in the run up to the tournament with the International Handball Federation (IHF). “Headed by the Organising Committee chairman HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, the committee looked into all the details, small and large, and we are proud of having a leader of his stature. Our efforts have proven that Qatar has people capable of achieving success,” Dr al-Kuwari added.
“There was transparency with the IHF, and there were visits by the international federation to ensure that we meet the deadline. And on the first day, everyone was impressed by our facilities and the event we put out.
“We always aspire for the better and our goal is to offer the best tournament in the history. And delegates, officials, have said that Qatar has organised the best World Championship in history. These reactions are thanks to everyone’s efforts, led by HE Sheikh Joaan.”
When asked about attendance, he said, that the tournament caught on with the masses as it progressed. “We know how important handball is to Europeans, but we were able to create awareness among the Arabs and Asians, who eventually began to attend the matches in big numbers. More than three thousand tickets were sold for the semi-finals on the tournament website,” he said.
He added that the message sent out by Qatar by successfully organising the handball world championships is that Qatar can successfully host the 2022 World Cup. “There were many campaigns against Qatar and but our response to such sceptics is hosting a successful handball world championship in 2015. Our efforts have proven that Qatar is capable of organising major events, even the Olympics, not just the World Cup.”
Dr al-Kuwari said that the Organising Committee for 2017 World Championship in France and European Championship in Poland have asked for sharing of experiences in hosting this Championship, and that they will be happy to do so.
Dr Thani al-Kuwari
