President of Qatar Press Center Saad bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi (right) speaking to QNA.
Doha, Qatar: President of Qatar Press Center (QPC) Saad bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi has stressed that Qatar’s success in hosting the Asian Cup from January 12 to February 10 for the 3rd time in its history reflects the prestigious and distinguished position reached by the country in the sport arena regionally and internationally.
The President of the Qatar Press Center added, in a special statement to QNA, that Qatar has gained great global attention when it comes to organizing major sporting events after earning the trust of international and continental structures as a successful model at all organizational and sporting levels, especially since Qatar is the only Asian country that had the honor of hosting the Asian Cup 3 times in 1988, 2011, and 2023.
Al Rumaihi, who was head of the media committee at the Asian Cup 1988 held in Qatar, considered that edition to be one of the most successful continental tournaments, due to the exceptional media coverage it received, accompanied by the unparalleled success at the marketing level. Additionally, the tournament achieved high financial revenues at that time, which was unprecedented at the Gulf and Asian levels.
Regarding the chances of the Qatari national team in the Asian Cup Qatar 2023, Al Rumaihi stated that the pressure will be great on the Qatari team as it is the holder of the title, and it will be playing at home among its fan in this edition, noting that the Qatar Football Association has taken a bold step by changing the coach before the start of the continental tournament when it signed the Spaniard Marques Lopez instead of Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz.
The President of the Qatar Press Center explained the changing coaches shortly before the start of the tournament has often proven successful, because it provides a great boost to the team, which reflects positively on the players’ performance on the field. He stressed that Lopez is one of the coaches who have proven their worth and achieved great successes with Al Wakrah Club in the Qatari League.
Al Rumaihi stressed that the Qatari fans are gaining great sports awareness and will strongly support the Qatari team in this tournament, noting that the greatest responsibility will be on the players who are required to maintain their Asian title.
On group one’s level, which includes Qatar, Lebanon, China and Tajikistan, Al Rumaihi said that all teams are at similar levels, but the Qatari team is required to successfully bypass the first round and then think about the tournament’s knockout round.
