11.10.2008
Qatar to invite 100,000 young people to attend 2016 Olympic Games in Doha
The Heir Apparent His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani announced today that, as part of the Doha 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Plan, 100,000 young people from all around the world will be invited to Qatar as honoured guests to watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Making the announcement, His Highness Sheikh Tamim said: “This initiative is an integral part of our vision for the Doha 2016 Bid: to focus on our shared future – the world’s youth.”
“This programme will foster understanding and awareness of the Olympic ideals and will provide participants with the opportunity to experience the Olympic Games first hand and learn about the Olympic Movement and the sports that make up the Olympic Programme. Moreover, this Youth Initiative will forge new friendships and understandings between young delegates from all around the world that will extend far beyond the Olympic Games themselves.”
“We want the Doha 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to engage and inspire these young people from all around the world, so that Arab youth better understand the wider world and the youth of the rest of the world gain a true picture of Arab culture. Participants will have a chance to exchange ideas and build understanding between cultures while also contributing to a very important dialogue on the role of sport and Olympism in the 21st Century.”
His Highness Sheikh Tamim added: “We have said from the very outset that a Doha 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games would help to change perceptions about the Arab world and its culture. This is an opportunity for the Olympic Family to make such a difference to the peoples of the world. Awarding Doha the 2016 Games would unleash the power of the Olympic Movement and peaceful sporting competition to create understanding, hope and change that could unite the entire region with the rest of the world. This is the mission of the Doha 2016 Youth Initiative: to be the catalyst that creates that understanding, hope and change.”
“The 100,000 participants will take away a firsthand memory of seeing every athlete’s dream: to participate in the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Having seen it, many will be inspired to live the dream for themselves. It is our hope that young people around the world, not just those who participate in the Youth Initiative, will be inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Games to play sport – and even to compete – so creating a new generation of Olympians.”