Top Thailand sporting delegation visits AZF

A senior delegation from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) visited Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) on Wednesday and received an introduction to its member organisations Aspetar, the orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, Aspire Academy and Aspire Logistics.
The delegation included Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, Member of International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Member of the Executive Board of National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT), as well as Somsak Leeswadtrakul, President’s Advisor of (NOCT), Gongsak Yodmani, Governor of STA, Montri Chaipun, Advisor to Governor of SAT and Chairman of Sub-Committee of Sports Science Renovation, National Sports Training Centre.
At Aspetar, the delegation discussed opportunities for co-operation and ways in which Aspetar can support Thai efforts to establish a sports medicine hospital based on Aspetar’s world-class model.
The Thai representatives were welcomed by Dr Abdulaziz Jaham al-Kuwari, Aspetar Acting Chief Executive Officer, who led the Thai officials on a tour across the hospital’s world-class facilities and briefed them on its athletic offer.
Commenting on the visit, Gongsak Yodmani, Governor of STA, said: “In my opinion, Aspetar is one of the best [sports medicine] hospitals in the world. I have been to Japan, South Korea and Germany, I believe Aspetar has one of the most comprehensive offers out there. We are looking forward to co-operating with Qatar to build a similar offer in Thailand.”
The high-powered delegation then visited Aspire Academy, where the champions of the Asian Cup were born. At Aspire, the visiting delegation was met and welcomed by Aspire Academy Deputy Director General, Ali Salem Afifa, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Jassim Rashid al-Buenain, Director of Performance Development and Sports Sciences at the Academy professor Valter di Salvo, and Marketing & Communications manager at Aspire Academy, Ward Abdullah.
The delegation had the opportunity to see the new Aspire Academy Football Performance Centre boasting state-of-the-art equipment and latest sporting technology on their comprehensive tour.
Mrs Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul praised the work the Academy does in terms of youth sports development and focus on education and academic excellence. “We have seen the tremendous work in the area of sports development done here at Aspire and we intend to learn from Qatar and Aspire as well as exchange plans, programmes and know-how on youth sports development,” she said.
The Thai delegation’s final stop was the Khalifa International Stadium where they were welcomed by Mohammed Mubarak al-Kuwari, Chief Marketing Officer at AZF, Abdullah Aman al-Khater, Director of Events and Venues at AZF, and Nasser Abudullah al-Hajri, Director of PR and Communications at AZF. The visitors were briefed on the recently renovated stadium that will host matches through to the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.