Experts participating in a webinar held recently.
Qatar is becoming a sports hub through consistent investment in the sports sector.
The country should make itself a regional hub for sports law which would encompass the work of the Qatar Sports Arbitration Foundation, said an expert during an event.
The Qatar Lawyers Association and the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Law organised a webinar in association with Sultan Al-Abdullah & Partners, Al-Ansari & Associates, McNair Chambers and Dr Muna Al-Marzouqi Law Firm which discussed sports-related topics in light of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 such as the future development of sports law in Qatar, the benefits and challenges of mega sports events and their relationship to SMEs, the local legacy and legal impact of mega sports events, and resolution of sports disputes. Salman Al-Ansari, Partner, Al-Ansari & Associates shed light on the legal developments in Qatar including new laws and building of institutions for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
He said, “As we are in the countdown for the World Cup and the nation has seen many developments in the legal infrastructure. The end result of that preparation is the FIFA law issued last year which was in preparations since 2015. We were privileged to be part of the team that worked on it”. “To understand how the law came into effect it is important to understand that each nation that bid for the World Cup had to sign government guarantees and had the opportunity to review the whole agreement. These guarantees focused on certain aspects like immigration, working, IP rights and commercial rights of FIFA and the law that was issued last year was the result of that. It shall be fantastic and smooth World Cup based on the legal work that was done and the goal was to facilitate a good experience for everyone,” he added.
Dr Zachary Calo, Professor, HBKU College of Law, responding to a question about Qatar becoming a sports law hub for the Middle East and what does this mean going forward, said “Clearly Qatar is becoming a sports hub through intentional and consistent investment in the sports sector by the State.”
“Qatar can, is and should make itself a regional hub for sports law which would encompass the work of the Qatar Sports Arbitration Foundation and view sports disputes part of Qatar’s broader investment. Qatar should continue to explore ways to leverage its manifest success in sports events which culminates in the World Cup and will continue beyond that which means to develop the sports sector in ways that goes beyond events,” he added.
Dr Kamilla Swart-Arries, Associate Professor, HBKU College of Science & Engineering who has brought to Qatar her knowledge about major sports events from South Africa discussed the lessons from the experiences in South Africa to Qatar in terms of legacy. “When we talk about legacy it is important to understand compliance as the country needs to comply and undertake all the guarantees and deliver on them but at the same time we are trying to leverage the opportunity.”
“One of the biggest wins for South Africa and I see it for Qatar from a tourism perspective is capitalizing on the football audience and attracting new markets.
Creating positive experiences while people are here and using the opportunity to increase visitors to stay and spend,” she added.
She noted, legacy is about the structural changes that is left as a consequence of the World Cup. Beyond the tangible infrastructure how do we harness human capital developments, social developments and also from policy governance IP perspective which is critical in terms of how we sustain the positive benefits that come out of the World Cup. Qatar has the added challenge in terms of it being a compact World Cup that speaks volumes of Qatar’s capability.
Dr Susan L Karamanian, Dean, HBKU College of Law moderated the event and Dr Muna Al-Marzouqi, Associate Vice President for Academic Planning & Quality Assurance, Qatar University discussed the major developments in Qatar over the past year in media.
