Qatar - 'Sports is Life' is the slogan for National Sport Day 2022

(MENAFN- Gulf Times)

This year's National Sport Day activities will be held under the slogan 'Sports is Life' to express the importance of dedicating a day to sports and to mark the tenth anniversary of the launch of the National Sport Day.
Adviser to HE the Minister of Sports and Youth, and chairman of the National Sport Day Committee (NSD) Abdulrahman Musallam al-Dosari said at a press conference that the Sport Day contributed greatly to raising awareness of the importance of sports in the lives of individuals and society, revealing the update of the application of the Qatar Sports for All Federation (QSFA), which includes many useful and modern technological features.
Al-Dosari said, 'undoubtedly the figures regarding the contribution of the Sports Day to raising awareness of the importance of practising sports reveal a significant increase in the number of sports practitioners of different ages in public parks, gyms, walking and cycling paths, where the number of cyclists has increased. The length of cycling tracks will reach 2,500 km, upon completion of the project.
He noted that the infrastructure established by the state and the facilities of the World Cup made Qatar a huge sports centre, pointing to the importance of sport and its ability to help prevent chronic diseases, enhance self-confidence, and rapprochement with others, because sport is participation, and it has an impact in all aspects, it reduces the cost of going to hospitals and makes practitioners happy, facts which are confirmed by science.
The NSD Committee Chairman, explained that all events this year will be held outdoor, with the participation of 15 vaccinated people and five individuals who have not completed the vaccination, such as children for individual games, provided that they show a Covid negative certificate, with everyone having the Ehteraz green status.
Al-Dosari said organisers must adhere to the maximum limit of 15 people in a group. These limits are applicable for all sports, and it is only allowed to remove the mask if the sport requires high physical exertion.
He said the Lusail Sports Hall will be allocated exclusively for women.
Regarding the sports events organised by state institutions, he said they can hold various sports events for their members and affiliates in accordance with Amiri Resolution No. 80 of 2011 allocating a sports day for the state, to encourage everyone to participate in sports activities with family members and colleagues, adding that: 'the standards of the health protocol for organizing sporting events have been set in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health, and the organizers have the freedom to choose the venues such as Aspire, Katara, Msheireb, Al Rayyan Gardens and Al Bidda, plus all walking and running tracks and sports stadiums.'
Regarding activities for children in schools, al-Dosari explained that the QSFA has ongoing programmes in cooperation with the Education Ministry to take advantage of sports classes in schools. A summer programme is also organised to teach them new and diverse sports such as swimming, archery, horse riding and self-defence, with the aim of discovering and developing children's hobbies.
Regarding the calendar of the QSFA, al-Dosari, said it includes 575 sports events throughout the year, the largest launched by the federation since its inception, and the number of participants in all previous events exceeded about a quarter of a million.
He said a study conducted by the QSFA in cooperation with Qatar University, has revealed that awareness of the importance of practising sports had risen to 86% in Qatar. A 365-day activity programme has been dedicated to teaching the correct ways to practise walking and choosing the appropriate sport for each age group under the supervision of a number of specialised trainers.
Al-Dosari said the federation has made an agreement with a number of gyms and the authorities concerned to offer reduced subscriptions for women to encourage them to exercise.
Regarding the update of the Sports for All Federation application, al-Dosari said: 'When updating the application, we were keen to keep pace with the times and meet the aspirations of community members with a new and advanced set of modifications, including the walking competition that will accompany the National Sport Day for three days from 8-10am, the first three winners who score 15,000 steps over those days will receive QR10,000, 7,000 and 5,000 , the application will also allow the possibility of creating special groups for the Sport Day that will provide users to participate in group activities with different sports activities, and provide common challenges by sending a link to the competition, it will also facilitate the follow-up of the health status, in terms of the appropriate number of steps, and health information, and send notifications to the user to encourage him to regular exercise.'
Among the most important updates launched by the QSFA is the possibility of booking sports facilities through maps, in addition to purchasing tickets from one place, depending on the 'barcode' of each ticket.
Qatar celebrated the National Sport Day for the first time in Feb. 2012, after the issuance of Amiri Decision No. 80 of 2011 which stipulated that the second Tuesday of February of every year will be a National Sport Day and a paid holiday.
All state institutions participate in this sporting event and organize activities to raise awareness of the importance of sports and its role in the lives of people and societies.
Qatar was the first to organise a national sports day in the region and the world. Some countries have followed Qatar and started organising a sports day, given its importance to the individual and the society.

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