Ashraf Siddiqui
Doha
As the first World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world approaches, the expatriate communities – who form the majority of Qatar’s population – have extended their full support to make the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 a grand success. They haveexpressed their pride for being part of this historical mega event.
Qatar Tribune spoke to leaders of different expatriate communities in Qatar to know how they feel about the World Cup.
Anwar Hossain Akon, President of Bangladesh Community Qatar, has said Qatar’s preparations for the World Cup are extraordinary.
“I was confident of Qatar hosting a smooth and successful FIFA World Cup. Qatar successfully hosted Asian Cup Football in 1988, 2011 and Asian Games of 2006 in addition to various regional and international sport tournaments almost on regular basis. We are excited for two more remarkable days to come during this year, i.e., November 20, and December 18 in 2022 to commemorate the gorgeous inauguration and successful concluding of the World Cup on Qatar National Day, December 18th,” Akon said.
“We are proud of playing a vital role in activities related to World Cup, especially in construction of World Cup stadiums and infrastructure. Being part of local and international volunteer programmes and participating as performers in various fields is an honour,” he said.
Akon said over a million football fans will be visiting Qatar during the tournament.
“I am sure they will be amazed to see the multi-cultures, large expatriate communities from various regions around the world living together in harmony and exemplary peace,” he added.
Nilangshu Dev, Founder President, Indian Sports Centre, opined that the expatriate communities stand firmly behind Qatar in staging a successful World Cup.
“A decade back, it was a dream for the expatriates to visualise an innovative World Cup happening in Qatar. However, during the last 12 years we have seen how that dream has become reality,” Dev said.
He said the way the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy involved the expatriate community in various Qatar 2022 activities is praiseworthy.
“Doha is well geared up for hosting the World cup and we are sure that Qatar 2022 will be one of the best ever.”
As for the vibrant Indian community to support World Cup as well as the sport culture in Qatar, he said the community leaders decided to establish Indian Sports Centre Qatar (ISC) in 2016 under the umbrella of Indian Embassy.ISC joined Supreme Committee Road Show in India also.
Qatar has focused itself on the development and promotion of healthy activities. Qatar is the only country to celebrate National Sports Day every year, he said.
Mohammad Muqtada, President, Non-Resident Nepalese Association (Qatar), took pride in the fact that the Nepalese workforce played a key role in the development of Qatar 2022 infrastructure.
“We are proud that Nepali workforce has played its historical role by being part of the World Cup infrastructure along with the development of Qatar.I believe Qatar’s role in spreading harmony and peace through sports and that too by hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be acknowledged world-wide,” he said.
Muqtada said, “I express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to the government of Qatar for providing an unforgettable experience to thousands of workers from Asia and Middle East for being part of the World Cup’s innovative infrastructure.”
“I assure to the Qatari nationals and the residents that I and my community members will put all our efforts to make this event a great success,” Muqtada concluded.
Riyaz Ahmad Bakali, President of Pakistan Engineers Forum, expressed pride in the fact that Pakistani community played a vital role by being part of World Cup projects.
“It is an opportunity for over seven-decade-long serving Pakistani community in Qatar to witness and to be part of the mega FIFA World Cup tournament,” he said.
Bakali added, “As a long-time resident, I am blessed to witness some of the major sporting events in Qatar, including the Asian Games. The confidence of Qatar was at its peak, and Qatar’s readiness for its multidimensional development in terms of education, civil infrastructure, international relations, safety and security, and financial stability created another historical success for Qatar to win the FIFA World Cup bid in December 2010. Qatar has kept all stakeholders strategically focused on delivering world-class games for life during its entire journey from 2010 to 2022.”
He added that several bumps during the journey made Qatar more resilient and stronger than ever.
“The reality is a few weeks away and lets feel the pride for the success of the mega event.”
Tenison De Silva, President of Sri Lanka Coordinating Committee, said, “It will be not wrong to say that FIFA World Cup is the most exciting sporting tournament in the world. We, the Sri Lankan community, share the joy and happiness with the people of our host country Qatar in hosting this grand sporting event.”
“We are amazed to see the infrastructure development and state-of-the-art architecture of stadiums built for FIFA. We are looking forward to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 that will bring lots of excitement and fond memories for millions of football fans who will be experiencing traditional and epic Arab hospitality during the tournament,” De Silva added.
“We, Sri Lankans, join hands together with rest of the other communities to wish Qatar and its people of their tremendous commitment to make this event a success and bring peace and harmony through sportsmanship to the world,” he concluded.
