Brazil sports minister visits Aspire Academy

Yesterday afternoon, the Brazilian Minister of Sport Leonardo Picciani visited Aspire Academy with a delegation including Brazil’s ambassador Roberto Abdalla, and the National secretary in Brazil’s Ministry of Sport, Leandro Cruz Froes da Silva.
Aspire Academy deputy director general Ali Salem Afifa welcomed the delegation and took them on a guided tour of the Academy.
Commenting on the occasion, Picciani said: “It is a fantastic experience to visit Aspire Academy’s superb facilities. The philosophy here, which focuses on preparing kids for life and equipping them with sports skills and a good education, is superb. This is one of the best sports academies I have ever seen in the world and Qatar will be served well by the work and initiatives underway at Aspire.”
Over the last two years, Brazil has played host to the two biggest sporting events in the world: the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics. With Qatar set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Picciani shared some of the experiences his country learnt from these two mega events, saying: “Our experience with 2014 World Cup taught us that you galvanise a nation and get everyone behind a common goal when you integrate and involve people in the event. From what I have seen going round Aspire Academy, Qatar is on track and right path in terms of involving the nation and the people in the 2022 FIFA World Cup project. As a result, I am sure Qatar will host an excellent World Cup in 2022.”