A new chapter in Qatar’s historic sporting journey was launched yesterday at a momentous gathering of Qatar’s entire sporting family.
Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) president His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani with Qatar’s sporting heroes at Doha’s iconic Qatar National Convention Centre unveiled a transformational vision to take sport in Qatar to even greater levels of success through a new brand and strategy.
Commenting on the new brand, His Excellency Sheikh Joaan said, “It feels like a sporting revolution and the start of something new. We want the people of Qatar to feel this change, share it, celebrate it, connect to our athletes and support them on their inspirational journeys. We want to unite our whole nation through the power of sport. We are all Team Qatar and I can’t wait for us all to seize this opportunity.”
Following Sheikh Joaan’s speech, Team Qatar’s most successful athletes, including high jump world champion Mutaz Barshim, Olympic showjumping finalist Sheikh Ali al-Thani, Paralympic silver medallist Abdulrahman Abdelqader, Asian shooting medallist Khulood al-Khalaf, and Qatar’s first female to compete in two Olympics, Nada Arakji, joined Qatar’s future sporting stars in an inspirational ceremony that culminated in the unveiling of the QOC’s new logo to the world.
The logo builds on Qatar’s sporting heritage and patriotic roots by combining the national flag and shield as a symbol of pride, whilst looking to the future with a contemporary, adaptable and innovative design, which is able to adopt multiple forms across modern and traditional platforms.
Team Qatar will become the public-facing brand of the QOC in a bid to create an image that is fresh, sporty and dynamic, and which represents the unity of Qatar’s entire sporting family. It has been designed to support the QOC’s new strategy by inspiring, engaging and empowering more young people through the power of Olympic sport. The QOC hopes that the new brand will capture the attention of young people, speak to them in a language that they understand and create an identity that they associate with their sporting heroes and which they are proud to wear and share.
“Our new brand will reflect the values of our nation, and the values of sport. Like Qatar, it is young, bold, passionate and dynamic,” Sheikh Joaan said.
“It shares our nation’s ambition, our optimism and our pride in the strength and ability of our people. It is a brand for our future and one that we hope will inspire, empower and educate our young people through the transformational power of sport. We hope that it will inspire future champions in sport and for sport.”
Team Qatar’s athletes are the most powerful tool to engage young Qataris in sport, according to the QOC.
Team Qatar Club, a new online sporting community, which was launched yesterday, hopes to achieve just that, it said. The club will run as a private, members-only area on the new Team Qatar website. It will provide exclusive and behind the scenes content about the incredible journeys of Qatar’s athletes – together with tips, advice, competitions, offers and much more.
Commenting on the launch of Team Qatar Club, double Olympic medallist Barshim said, “I urge all my friends to join me in becoming a member of the Team Qatar Club. This will be the place to go for everything you need to know about our athletes and sport in Qatar, get health and fitness tips from the best, and connect with other sports fans. I can’t wait share my stories, get closer to our sporting community and show the fun, exciting and human-side to sport. I hope that we are able to inspire our whole country to get involved with and enjoy sport.”
The QOC’s new strategy was also unveiled yesterday, following a three-year process to develop world-class structures, processes and performance measures that will ensure that Qatar is achieving optimal sporting success on multiple levels.
The strategy aims to optimise partnerships between all of Qatar’s sporting entities “to become a leading nation in bringing the world together through sustainable sports development” and to become “a leader in promoting the Olympic Movement”.

QOC hosts Extraordinary General Assembly meeting

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) held its 33rd Extraordinary General Assembly meeting yesterday, with President His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, QOC vice president His Excellency Sheikh Saud bin Ali al-Thani, presidents of national federations, and chairpersons of the committees affiliated to QOC, in attendance. The General Assembly approved an enhanced organisational structure with Sheikh Saud bin Ali al-Thani as first Vice President, Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman al-Kuwari as second Vice President and Jassim Rashid al-Buenain as Secretary General. The General Assembly also saw discussion regarding the annual QOC sports events calendar, and the agenda and requirements for Team Qatar athletes in upcoming competitions.

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