19.08.2008
Environment is top priority in Doha sports strategy
Sport in Qatar will be used as a key tool to increase awareness about the environment and environmental issues, the head of a new Qatari body has pledged.
A new permanent environmental forum has been set up to strengthen Doha’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Consisting of seven members, the new body – Sports and Environment Committee (SEC) – will work under the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC).
The committee is headed by Saif Ali al-Hajari, who is also the chairman of Qatar’s Friends of Environment Centre (FEC).
Mr al-Hajri said: “Environment has become a third pillar, after culture and sports, in any progressive country’s portfolio. We don’t aim to be just another committee, but we will take concrete action, which is highlighted in our first year’s slogan ‘From Plan to Action.”
Al-Hajari added that it had been decided that 1 December would from now be observed as a ‘Sports and Environment Day’ in Qatar.
“We will be organising seminars, workshops, conferences, school trips and whatever it takes to make sure that every one in Qatar understands the local and international environmental dynamics,” he said.
The other members of the Sports and Environment Committee are: vice chairman, Mohammed al-Sayrafi (FEC), Yousuf al-Kazim (FEC), Tariq Saeed al-Abdallah (QOC), Ghanim Ali al-Kuwari (QOC), Yousuf Ibrahim al-Hamar (Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves) and Ismail Mohamed Hasan.
The logo of the SEC is the internationally recognised Olympic sign placed under a lime-green palm tree branch. “While the palm tree will be the symbol of environment, it also represents the Qatari climate and culture,” explained al-Hajari.