Nakheel Landscapes players celebrating their victory in the Workers’ Cup finals, at Al Sadd Sports Club, yesterday. PICs: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA
Doha: Nakheel Landscapes emerged Workers’ Cup champions for a third consecutive year with a crushing 4-0 victory over Taleb Group yesterday. The final was played at the Al Sadd Sports Club in the presence of more than 10,000 fans.
The event was attended by Khalid Ghanim Al Kubaisi, Chief of Advisory Unit & Special Projects, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and Hassan Rabia Al Kuwari, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at Qatar Stars League (QSL) who honored the winning team, in addition to a number of players and referees who performed excellent in previous matches.
“The workers are a key partner in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and a key partner in the development of the country in general and have the right to participate in the tournament and play football.
The level of game and the level of organization of the match was excellent and we congratulate them all,” said Al Kubaisi
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sideline of the event, he said that this is the seventh edition and ‘we hope to continue beyond 2022’ with this initiative.
“We dealt with this match professionally like any other official tournament and we have started preparing for the cup long time; all thanks to the organizers,” Al Kubaisi said.
Speaking after the match, Fatma Al Nuaimi, the SC’s Communications Director, said: “This year’s final was yet again an exciting footballing showpiece. Congratulations to Nakheel for a great victory. “I’d like to commend all 28 teams that have taken part and thank the thousands of supporters who came to the final - it just goes to show how the Workers’ Cup is growing in stature every year. Football has the power to promote many things, and this tournament is just one example of how we want to use the 2022 World Cup to encourage social inclusion and sports participation across Qatar.”
Ghassan Oueijan, Managing Director at Nakheel commented on the victory of his company’s team saying, “For the third time consecutively we are winning this tournament. All the employees of the company are happy. We will continue our efforts to win the next editions also.”
On the preparations of the tournament, he said that the preparations for the tournament started much earlier and the players were taking training four days a week during last nine months and the company has a complete training team including coaches and medical team.
“The reason behind our success for the third consecutive time is our belief in the football and full support to players from the management of the company,” he added.
“Qatar is one of the most important countries in the Middle East regarding welfare laws for the workers and has set new standards in this regard. All authorities concerned have made great efforts for workers welfare. Today, Nakheel not only feels proud because of its victory in the workers’ football tournament but also on the grounds that we are the best company in respect to workers welfare and this fact has been endorsed by local and foreign entities,” Oueijan concluded.
About workers’ cup, Aaron Aaloosi Hsse, Director of Nakheel said that this workers cup is an annual event in which all companies participate. “From the beginning of this year’s tournament, no goal was scored against our team.”
“We have also won other tournaments like communities cup etc. That is why we are not focusing only on this cup. All of our employees attended this event along with their families,” he said.
He said: “The most important thing we achieved during this tournament is the atmosphere of joy among the workers of the company. They are very happy over winning the cup.” He said that Nakheel company with around 4000 workers and 700 employees always provided workers with better health care and many other facilities.
More than 600 players from 28 teams competed in this year’s tournament. Eleven of these teams were current or former contractors on Qatar 2022 projects, while seven are engaged with the SC’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, Generation Amazing.
