He stressed that the development of sport in Asia will be reflected positively on the level of equestrian development in the State of Qatar by finding more and powerful competitors and who have more experiences.
Al-Attiyah credited his win in the AEF elections due to the support of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, as well as the directives of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee. “Thanks to their support the Qatari equestrian has made many achievements and victories in various fields, most notably qualifying for the final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games,” he said.
The AEF president said that it is very important for the equestrian sport in the region to be developed as this will have a significant impact on speeding the development of the Qatari equestrianism, which is highly supported by the state.
“My election to the highest post of Asian body will help raise the level of all national teams in all categories and will help in the growth of the horse market because equestrian sports also depends on marketing,” he added.
Al-Attiyah said he had an electoral experience last year, but luck was not on his side, especially since the last elections were held in South Korea and were won by the president of the Korea Equestrian Federation.
He pointed out that during that elections, the Qatari delegation received the support of some of the federations that gave it their votes, which led Qatar to announce its nomination again because the State of Qatar has a good reputation internationally thanks to its permanent participation and its support and sponsorship of championships abroad.
“Members of the Asian Assembly have a clear vision that Qatar will able to assume the presidency of the Federation and has the ability to develop equestrian in Asia, thanks to the great potentials at the level of enterprises and its organisation and hosting of many high rating world championships,” he said.
He announced that Qatar Equestrian Federation will work in the future on the participation of equestrians from the Asian continent in the tournaments to be held in the State of Qatar, stressing that this is one of the most important goals of his election programme.
Al-Attiyah underlined that the level of equestrian sport in Qatar is witnessing a remarkable development, but the results of their foreign participations are currently due to the level of horses participating.
He noted that the Federation has a plan to support its riders with a number of good horses, however, finding the right horses needs to be thoroughly researched.
Speaking about upcoming events for the Federation, al-Attiyah explained that the season will start in October with local competitions and continue until May 2018.
“This year we have introduced the points system in the local championships, those who receive the highest number of points will have the opportunity to participate the camps organised by QEF in Europe,” he noted.