Koora Time offers football for everyone

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar Shell celebrated this year’s National Sport Day at Katara with their award-winning corporate social responsibility programme “Koora Time”. With over 7,000 people attending, participants of all age groups actively engaged in a fun-filled day of football activities.
The all-day event offered visitors a variety of football activities, including a ‘head-to-head’ dribbling challenge, a ‘Dive and Save’ goalkeeping competition, a virtual reality goal keeper game, open play football and aerobics classes.
Koora Time is an initiative developed by Qatar Shell in partnership with QFA. The programme is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of young people in Qatar through football. Since its launch in March 2013, the programme has benefited over 17,500 children across Qatar. Last year’s programme saw a significant reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI) by 80% of participants. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
Commenting on the occasion, Khalid al-Kuwari, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Qatar Football Association said: “This year’s Koora Time activities which we are organising alongside Qatar Shell provides various fun activities for children, adults and families and were planned to be suitable for all ages so all members of the community can join in the fun.”
He added: “Our participation in sports day is a real opportunity for us to express our love for sports and our aim at involving the community in  our events and activities. The fun-packed day emphasises our passion for football which is precisely why we have organised most of the activities to be football-related this year. We invite everyone to take part in Koora Time’s activities in Katara this year and guarantee that everyone will have a wonderful time.”
Wejdan al-Malki, CSR Manager at Qatar Shell, said: “Koora Time helps children develop positive habits such as healthy eating and regular exercise that will lead to a healthier lifestyle. National Sport Day is the perfect time to emphasise the importance of good health, particularly among children who represent Qatar’s future. We are especially proud to partner with the Qatar Football Association to organise these Koora Time events. We hope that everyone will take the message from National Sport Day that healthy living can be both beneficial and fun.”
In recognition for its positive impact on the health of youth, Koora Time has been the recipient of numerous recognition awards including the ‘Sports Industry Award’ for Best CSR Initiative in 2014 and 2016, the ‘CSR Award Qatar’ for Best CSR Impact Initiative in 2015, the ‘Dar Al Sharq Corporate Social Responsibility Award’ for the Best Sports Initiative in 2014, the ‘AFC Dream of Asia Award’ in 2014, 2016 & 2017 in the area of social responsibility, and the ‘QFA Awards’ for Best CSR Programme in 2017.