The minister said this success is due to several factors, most notably the participation of a wide number of communities of the teams especially the Arab ones, as well as playing in the stadiums that hosted the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches which made people eager to attend.
HE Sheikh Hamad pointed out that all tickets for the Qatar and Palestine matches were completely sold out. He explained that they set similar high standards when organising the event that were present for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Most of the people who worked on the World Cup also took part in preparing the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 and no distinction was made at all between the two tournaments.
Regarding the Arab Cup, HE Sheikh Hamad said that the tournament is set to return after Qatar hosted the tournament in 2021. He said the Arab Cup will be organised again in co-operation between the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).
Although he is not the one who can talk about this tournament officially, he did confirm that they are looking to possibly announce the organisation of the Arab Cup again in the coming period.
The minister said that with all the successes achieved by Qatar in hosting many global and continental tournaments, hosting the Olympic Games remains the biggest dream. Qatar has previously been nominated to host this major event in recent years and has the intention to apply again.
HE Sheikh Hamad sees that the Gulf region as a whole has proven that it has the capabilities to host the largest sporting events and praised Saudi Arabia, that is set to host the Asian Cup in 2027 and the World Cup in 2034.
HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani, the Minister of Sports and Youth and Chairman of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Organising Committee, also answered Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka, Editor-in-Chief of the Gulf Times, saying: “Sports is the most important reason why people or countries know Qatar. Before the World Cup, many people did not know it in a real way. This is on the one hand, and on the other, it is more important to know Qatar’s true face. I am sure that the fans who attended the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 discovered many facts that were corrected through what they saw on the ground. I believe that organising sports tournaments in particular is the most important way to achieve success for any country from a political and educational standpoint. Therefore, the most important way to communicate with the peoples are football and sports in general.”
