Sports
Asian Cup Qatar has exceeded expectations, says Organising Committee chairman
Minister of Sports and Youth says 1.2mn tickets have been sold for the continental football event
January 23, 2024 | 12:22 AM
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, said that the public turnout and attendance for the continental showpiece matches has exceeded expectations, revealing that ticket sales exceeded 1.2mn while the attendance has so far reached 620,000.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.
January 23, 2024 | 12:22 AM