HE President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani said that the upcoming period will see a number of important moments in the history of Qatari football, starting with the hosting of the World Cup in 2022.

He noted that this was the first time the general assembly took place via videoconference, in line with the precautionary measures implemented by the state to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

"This year, we are approaching the end of the period of the QFAs strategic plan, whose basic foundations were outlined in 2011 to continue to the year 2016. And this plan was subject to review and reorientation in 2018 to continue until the end of the year 2022," the QFA President said.

"With the Almightys blessing, we will have finished hosting the biggest football event in the world the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Qatari soil by the end of next year," he added. "We feel honoured to represent the Arab world, the Middle East region and Asia in hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup," he added.

He stressed that the vision of QFA during the past decade was to become a football association characterized by leadership and creativity. He said this vision had inspired the association to work hard and strive to achieve its collective goals.

"Our strategic plan is based on six main goals that we work on annually the most important of which are developing national teams, providing an effective system of governance and technical development for our leagues, clubs and referees. We also consistently seek to increase participation in football activities in our communities," the QFA President said.

He said that QFA was currently working on expanding the professional set-up by allowing Second Division clubs to join the Qatar Stars League roster.

He touched upon the performance of Qatari clubs continentally, saying that the "exit of Qatari clubs from the first round of the AFC Champions League is not satisfactory, and we need to assess the situation in detail."

Another topic he touched on was developing Qatari coaches.

"We seek to raise the efficiency of Qatari coaches through training courses with different football schools around the world. We hope to see Qatari coaches heading our clubs in local competitions in the future," the QFA President said.

He also noted that the progress of preparing Qatari referees was going well. He applauded the induction of 200 referees who completed challenging qualifying procedures to win their official badges.

He informed the General Assembly participants that 42 MoUs were signed last season, including 37 with national federations, 3 with continental confederations and 2 with regional federations.

(QNA)