Young soccer player Khalid al-Obaidaly (left), Secretary General of Qatar Football Federation Saud al-Muhanadi (second left), young soccer player, Asma Ali Suroor (right, front) and FIFA representative former Argentinian footballer and international coach Gabriel Calderon (right, back) pose for a picture with the FIFA World Cup trophy.
By Mikhil Bhat/Doha
A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 touched down at the Doha International Airport at 10:15am yesterday.
An hour later, a creation of Milanese sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga basked in Qatari sun for the first time in its 42-year history.
Between the two events, a red carpet unfolded, eager people, some with red Coca-Cola cans, gathered around the predominantly red-coloured plane, reps in red Adidas sweatshirts embarked and disembarked ensuring the appropriate paraphernalia was in place for a 14.4in trophy made of 11-lb of 18 carat gold.
Finally, when the stage was set, the FIFA World Cup Trophy stepped out.
The trophy is on a 92,000-mile journey around the world; a 267-day journey, initiated by Coca-Cola in association with FIFA, across 88 countries that will give fans a chance to get up close with the trophy that is coveted by the best of the best.
For Qatar, the fact that the trophy has come to the country in December has its own significance.
“Second of December (in 2010 in Zurich) was when we won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup and 18th of December is our National Day, the day when our founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani founded Qatar. So it is special for us,” said Nasser al-Khater, director of Marketing and Communications, Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee.
“Football brings people together; it is a good opportunity for the people of Qatar to come under the banner of football. We look forward to welcoming the people living in Qatar to attend the various events that have been lined up for this tour - at Aspire or at Darb al-Saai grounds as part of Qatar National Day celebrations.”
FIFA ambassador and former Argentina international Gabriel Calderon, who is part of the tour, said: “The trophy is a symbol of sporting prowess, bringing great nations together to celebrate the beautiful game. Playing in the World Cup was the biggest honour I could have imagined, and I have witnessed and experienced the same passion and admiration for the game throughout the Middle East during my time here. This is a fantastic experience to be a part of.”
Coca-Cola’s vice president of Integrated Marketing Middle East, Scott McCune, unsurprisingly couldn’t help but get into the scale of the World Cup Trophy Tour.
“Bringing the trophy to Qatar has been a truly humbling experience. To be able to witness the power football has to bring people together under a common passion. This is what makes this trophy, the ‘world’s cup’ which is why we are taking the trophy on its longest journey to date, visiting 88 countries over nine months. To quantify the tour, we will be travelling 92,000 miles which is over 3.5 times around the world,” he said.
Nine years from now, the trophy will be played for right here in Qatar.
“We all look forward to being together in Brazil in 2014 and we look forward to inviting the world and welcoming the world in 2022,” al-Khater said.
SCHEDULE
December 13
07.45am - 12.15pm, Al Sadd Stadium
4.00pm – 6:00pm, Temba – Traditional Children’s Football Tournament, Darb Al Saai
8.00pm - 11.00pm, Al Arabi Football Club
December 14
10am onwards: Fanzone, Aspire