(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar Olympic Academy yesterday celebrated the graduation of the first batch of the executive master's programme in sports law, in the presence of Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani.
The programme is a Qatari legacy in sports and is unique in the region and accredited from the leading sports and academic institutions around the world.
QOC First Vice President Sheikh Saud bin Ali al-Thani attended the graduation ceremony along with QOC Second Vice President
Dr Thani al-Kuwari, and QOC Secretary-General and Qatar Olympic Academy Board Chairman Jassim bin Rashed al-Bueinain.
The ceremony started with a short movie simulating the first edition of the programme, followed by a video speech for programme director Dr Abdullah al-Hayyan, in which he congratulated the students and wished them success and hoped the programme would continue in the coming years. He extended thanks to everyone that contributed and worked towards the conclusion of the first edition of the programme.
Al-Bueinain then received the award for the best innovative programme in the field of law education, which was won by the executive master's programme in sports law at the annual conference of legal firm LexisNexis.
After that, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani and al-Bueinain honoured the members of the consultative committee of the master's programme. HE Sheikh Joaan also honoured the sponsors of the programme, namely: International Olympic Committee (IOC), represented by Olympic Solidarity; the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC); the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA); the Court of Arbitration Sport (CAS); the University of Barcelona; and Qatar University. HE the QOC president then honoured the graduates of the first batch of the programme.
For his part, Dr al-Kuwari, who participated as a student and received a master's degree in sports law, said the concept of the programme was presented by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani as a legacy from the academy to the world, noting that the programme became an international legacy considering the strong participating partners such as IOC, ANOC, CAS, OCA and the University of Barcelona, who enriched the first edition of the programme.
Al-Kuwari said the programme will serve a good starting point in the field of sports law. 'The State of Qatar is always at the forefront of countries in the achievements of 2017, as we managed the best achievement in the world when our hero Mutaz Barshim won the world's best athlete award in athletics.
'We follow the message of IOC through culture and sport, and the programme in its first version raises the sports issues in the world, he added.
In turn, al-Bueinain expressed his delight at the graduation of the first batch of the master's programme by Qatar Olympic Academy. He thanked the IOC, ANOC, CAS, OCA, the University of Barcelona, and Qatar University's College of Law for supporting the programme from the beginning.
Over the past period, the QOC secretary-general said, Qatar Olympic Academy sought to be a leading academy at the local, Arab and international levels to develop sports and Olympic education under the umbrella of IOC thanks to the comprehensive support that sport and athletes receive from the country's wise leadership.
Al-Bueinain extended his thanks to HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani for his major role in the success of Qatar Olympic Academy's march and adoption of the master's programme that was born two years ago as a concept and now celebrates the graduation of its first batch.
He congratulated the graduates and wished that they become ambassadors of the programme, which, he said, will be made available in the coming years thanks to its significance in the sports sector.
For his part, Qatar Olympic Academy Executive Director Saif Mohamed al-Nuaimi said that 30 executive lecturers took part in the programme for a year not just university professors and PhD holders but also people working in the executive field of sports issues. Hence, he added, participants got an idea about what happens in sports cases at CAS, which is an amazing thing that does not happen at universities.
The Qatar Olympic Academy executive director said the programme will benefit students in their careers and allow them to continue their studies and pursue a PhD degree at the University of Barcelona. 'We achieved our goal from the first edition and we aim to develop the programme in the future edition and depend on the changes that might occur to international laws, al-Nuaimi said.
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